JUBA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR on Friday called for international support for humanitarian efforts in South Sudan in the face of historic rains and floods for the fourth consecutive year and the threat of worse to come amid the climate crisis.
The UNHCR said more than 900,000 people have been directly impacted as waters have swept away homes and livestock, forcing thousands to flee, inundating large swathes of farmland, and worsening an already dire food emergency.
"With global attention elsewhere, South Sudan's protracted and chronically underfunded crisis needs urgent support," the UN refugee agency said in a statement.
It said two-thirds of the country is currently experiencing flooding, noting that boreholes and latrines have been submerged, contaminating water sources and risking outbreaks of diseases.
On Oct. 12, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that 62 people have been killed due to heavy flooding in South Sudan since April.
The WHO said some 15 counties in the four most affected states are not only battling to contain the measles outbreak but also cholera and hepatitis E.
The UNHCR, however, said it is scaling up its support to vulnerable populations in hard-to-reach areas of South Sudan through mobile protection response teams as many roads are inaccessible and alternative means of transport are scarce.
"Camps for internally displaced people are below the current water level, protected from floodwaters only by dikes - large, compacted mounds of earth - erected by the United Nations, the government, and the inhabitants themselves," UNHCR said.
According to the UN agency, needs are surging for food, shelter, water, and sanitation supplies as stocks of basic items are running out. "As the climate crisis is ratcheting up, extreme weather is wearing down the resilience of displaced communities hit by repeated disasters," said the UNHCR.
It said while South Sudan's refugee crisis remains the largest in Africa, with more than 2.3 million South Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries, an estimated 2.2 million people are internally displaced within the country, which also hosts over 340,000 refugees.
The country is afflicted by widespread inter-communal violence, the devastating effects of climate change, and severe food insecurity affecting 60 percent of the population of 11 million, according to the UN.
Food prices have soared, and the currency has been devalued, exacerbating a protracted humanitarian crisis, UNHCR said. ■