EU allocates -€45m in emergency assistance to South Sudan

The EU Saturday warned that South Sudan is facing a severe humanitarian crisis and announced to boost its assistance by 45 million euro."We are currently very close to South Sudan becoming one of the biggest protracted humanitarian crisis of our time. The international community needs to prevent this from happening at all cost," said EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, Kristalina Georgieva, in a statement.She noted that over one million people have been displaced within and outside of South Sudan, affecting the whole region.On his part, Andris Piebalgs, EU Commissioner for Development commented: "The descent of South Sudan into violent conflict causes enormous suffering among innocent civilians." "To respond to the worsening humanitarian situation and help the people of South Sudan we are determined to use all available instruments and have therefore decided to mobilise today's additional assistance," he said.The funding will be spent on essential food and non-food items, as well as providing shelter, health, protection, water, hygiene and sanitation. He noted that more than half of the South Sudanese population, 7 million people, are at risk of food insecurity. More and more refugees are arriving at the overcrowded sites in Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya, he added.