Aid agencies seek $1.27bn to help 3.2m South Sudanese

Aid agencies working in South Sudan on Tuesday launched 1.27 billion U.S. dollar appeal to alleviate suffering and preposition aid before the rains in June. In a joint statement, key aid agencies which remained in South Sudan to protect civilians and deliver aid said they are scaling up humanitarian response to assist 3.2 million people up to June, based on rigorous prioritization. Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Toby Lanzer said the agencies have revised the South Sudan Crisis Response Plan to reflect the deterioration of the humanitarian situation, to prioritize frontline relief and pre-positioning, and to take necessary actions now to prevent food security deteriorating later in the year. "To achieve this, I ask the international donor community to stand with the people of South Sudan and the aid agencies working here to help them before the situation gets even worse," Lanzer said in a joint statement issued in Nairobi. This includes relief for displaced people and host communities, refugees, and other communities whose lives and livelihoods are at immediate risk. Aid organizations said they plan to provide emergency relief, uphold people's rights and strengthen livelihoods. The current crisis comes on top of already large-scale humanitarian needs. South Sudan has one of the world's largest aid operations, tackling food insecurity, internal displacement, disease outbreaks, refugee and returnee movements, and a range of other needs across the country. These come against a backdrop of some of the worst human development indicators in the world. The conflict started on Dec. 15, 2013, has led to devastating humanitarian consequences in South Sudan: the lives of millions of citizens have been shattered; almost 900,000 have left their homes; and thousands more have been hurt or wounded as a direct result of hostilities. According to UN, livelihoods have been lost, and people's ability to move livestock to pasture, to fish or to hunt, has been severely compromised. "The priority is to save lives now, and ensure that we have food, medicine and other lifesaving supplies pre-positioned in the field, in easy reach of aid agencies before the rains hit and the roads become impassable," Lanzer said. He said the crisis has coincided with the period for pre- positioning essential supplies in deep-field hubs around the country ahead of the rains which begin in March and cut off two thirds of the country by June. "With pre-positioning disrupted by the conflict, including significant looting of already pre-positioned supplies in some states, the humanitarian community's strategy for delivering consistent assistance to people in need in remote locations throughout the year is at risk," said the UN.