12 November 2009 - UNICEF Deputy Executive Director calls for immediate action to tackle food shortages in areas of Southern SudanJuba, Sudan – UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, Hilde F. Johnson, today urged for more action to be taken in Southern Sudan to stop severe food shortages in parts of the country escalating into a worse crisis. “Now is the time to act. Everybody needs to do their best to stop this humanitarian emergency, which is already affecting 1.5 million people across Southern Sudan,” said Hilde Johnson, UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director, after a visit to the region. Poor rains in several states of Southern Sudan have led to severe food shortage. This situation has been exacerbated by increased levels of insecurity particularly in Jonglei “We welcome the World Food Programme’s immediate response to the problems and appeal for donors and the Government of Southern Sudan to also increase their assistance,” During her three-day fact-finding mission Ms Johnson visited communities in Jonglei State which has been the hardest hit by the lack of food. She traveled to Malakal, Akobo and Bor, where she visited therapeutic feeding centres and saw for herself the impact of food shortages on mothers and severely malnourished children. “Children are the most vulnerable to nutritional shocks and they are the first to succumb when there is not enough food in the home or the community,” she noted. Ms Johnson added that a child with severe acute malnutrition has a 25-50 per cent chance of dying unless properly treated and given timely access to therapeutic foods. Malnourished children are also more susceptible to disease. In response to the crisis UNICEF has provided therapeutic food through its partners which has been used to treat severely malnourished children in 79 UNICEF supported therapeutic outreach centres across Southern Sudan. UNICEF has also trained 108 health workers on the management of severe acute malnutrition and another 122 community workers on surveillance and screening. The food emergency was addressed in meetings with the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit and other senior GoSS officials. Ms Johnson also called upon international donors to step up their support.
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