JUBA—Nearly 800,000 refugees who have escaped the ongoing conflict in Sudan are now confronting severe hunger and health risks in South Sudan, exacerbated by critical funding shortages and rising food costs, as reported by a leading global charity on Wednesday.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Save the Children has highlighted the dire situation facing approximately 794,000 refugees and South Sudanese returnees, including around 476,000 children, who have sought refuge in South Sudan since the conflict intensified in April 2023. The charity noted that these groups have experienced significant reductions in food rations, a situation worsened by South Sudan's economic downturn. "The country's economic crisis, however, threatens to deteriorate the value of the already inadequate food ration even further for those that will continue to receive it," the statement read.

Famari Barro, the interim South Sudan country director for Save the Children, described the situation as a profound humanitarian disaster. South Sudan, one of the world's poorest nations, is struggling under the compounded pressures of climate change and food scarcity. "Hundreds of thousands of children across the country rely on food rations to survive, many will now be plunged into even further precarity and exposure to malnutrition, disease and protection risks like child marriage or labor as families are forced to desperate measures," Barro explained.

The World Food Program (WFP), tasked with providing food rations and cash assistance to the refugees and returnees, has faced significant funding shortfalls. Since 2022, these financial gaps have led to refugees receiving only half of what WFP deems a full food ration. Further ration reductions are now affecting the majority of Sudanese refugees who arrived in South Sudan before April 2023, leaving many without any direct food assistance.

Refugees have voiced concerns that the reductions in food support for the longer-established community might force people to leave the camps and consider returning to Sudan, despite the ongoing risks. The living conditions in South Sudan's refugee camps are described as precarious, with new arrivals residing in fragile shelters that offer minimal protection from the elements and poor sanitation facilities.

Save the Children has issued a stark warning about the heightened risk of diseases linked to malnutrition, noting that severe acute malnutrition can compromise children's immune systems, turning manageable illnesses such as diarrhea into potential life-threatening conditions.