The signs and warnings that South Sudan was about to have a
famine were very clear. Rival factions are locked in competition,
but the only thing their ruthless claims to power are spreading is a
general sense of chaos. So now it’s here: a man-made
catastrophe. Civil war, flight, disease, and starvation.
After decades of civil war, South Sudan succeeded in separating
from its Arab north in 2011. People cheered, because more than
90 percent had spent a long time fighting for independence and
now voted for it, but it was a short-lived dream.
Since the crisis erupted in South Sudan in December 2013, 4
million people have been uprooted from their homes due to war
and severe food insecurity. Approximately 1.88 million people are
displaced internally in South Sudan, 2 million fled to neighboring
and an estimated 7.3 million are in need of humanitarian aid.