Highlights
- Fighting prompts displacement and urgent needs in Wau
- IOM provides multi-sector emergency aid to IDPs in Wau and surrounding areas
- IOM responds to upsurge of malaria cases in Bentiu town and PoC site
IOM teams continue lifesaving humanitarian activities across South Sudan, where more than 6.1 million people are in need of assistance. Since December 2013, the crisis has displaced 2.3 million people, including 727,600 who have fled to neighbouring countries and more than 1.61 million others who remain internally displaced.
Fighting erupted in Wau—one of South Sudan’s largest towns—on 24 June, forcing tens of thousands from their homes and exacerbating existing needs. More than 19,700 people fled to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) peacekeeping base and thousands more were displaced in town and to surrounding villages. Prior to this, an estimated 100,000 people were already displaced in Wau due to insecurity since late 2015.
In coordination with other relief agencies, IOM is responding to humanitarian needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Wau. IOM deployed a surge team on 26 June and immediately began needsassessments and multi-sectoral interventions, including mobile health clinics, provision of safe drinking water and distribution of shelter materials.
The UN has warned that food insecurity will be worse this year than last. 4.8 million people are projected to be facing severe food insecurity through July, representing the highest level of hunger since the crisis broke out in South Sudan. Food insecurity is also forcing more households to leave the country, with approximately 100,000 people crossing into neighboring countries in recent months.
IOM is responding to an upsurge of malaria cases in the Bentiu protection of civilians (PoC) site and Bentiu town. During the first two weeks of June, malaria cases more than doubled, accounting for at least 50 per cent of all health consultations at IOM primary health care clinics in Bentiu. IOM has dispatched additional medical supplies and will distribute mosquito nets to families across the site.