South Sudan Humanitarian Appeal Sets New Direction for International Aid

JUBA, South Sudan, November 14, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Press release from Government of South Sudan and OCHA

The Government of South Sudan and aid agencies launched the humanitarian appeal for 2014-2016 today, unveiling an innovative new direction for humanitarian action in South Sudan.

The three-year appeal seeks US$1.1 billion to meet the needs of the most vulnerable 3.1 million people across the country in 2014. This comes to some $355 per person targeted to receive assistance, including emergency health, food and nutrition support.

While the core of humanitarian action remains to save lives in emergencies, two new pillars of action will enhance the impact of emergency relief in the next three years: building community resilience and strengthening national capacity to deliver basic services.

Building resilience will help prevent suffering and enable families to manage disasters when crises hit. Strengthening national capacity will enable state institutions to become the main provider of frontline services such as clean water and basic healthcare, and lessen reliance on international aid over time.

“This Consolidated Appeal takes a bold new approach to delivering humanitarian assistance,” said Awut Deng Acuil, Minister of Gender, Child, Social Welfare, Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, speaking about the launch of the appeal. “Placing resilience and national institutions at the forefront of aid work will help create a South Sudan which is better able to care for its citizens in times of crisis.”

Though South Sudan remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with one of the largest humanitarian operations globally, the 2014-2016 Consolidated Appeal highlights improvements on several fronts in 2013. Overall needs reduced for the first time since 2011. The arrival of Sudanese refugees slowed, and returns of South Sudanese from Sudan continued to decrease. Food security improved for many South Sudanese, although the number of people severely food insecure remained worryingly high.

In a move to ensure international aid to South Sudan is effective, the appeal links humanitarian action to the broader framework of the New Deal for Engagement in Fragile States, a global initiative aimed to move fragile countries towards resilience.

“The New Deal is founded on the idea of national ownership, and a relationship between fragile countries and their donors based on trust and mutually agreed goals,” said Toby Lanzer, the Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan. “While our appeal focuses largely on principled humanitarian action to save lives, including a link to the New Deal is especially important to speed up South Sudan’s journey to recovery, and to ensure that every aid dollar spent here has a lasting impact.”

The Relief and Rehabilitation Commission highlighted the importance of early funding for the new appeal. “We call on donors to contribute to the new appeal as early as possible, so that we use this window of opportunity in the dry season to pre-position supplies ahead of the rains,” stated Peter Lam Both, the Commission’s Chairperson.