SOUTH SUDAN – The Republic of South Sudan has secured US$5M in funding from the United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to support an integrated health response for communities affected by crises and acute food insecurity.
The federal government has provided the healthcare funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) in a bid to improve the quality of life and health of South Sudanese. Moreover, the US has been the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance to the people of South Sudan since its independence.
“Specifically, the new funding will ensure the procurement and distribution of inter-agency emergency health kits for partners providing essential health and nutrition services to crisis-affected people,” WHO said.
In addition, the public health funding will allow the WHO to strengthen its capacity for prevention, early detection, investigation, and response to disease outbreaks through increased deployment of rapid response teams.
The funds will also be used to improve coordination for effective humanitarian response and the integration of service delivery at all administrative levels including screening and treatment of severely malnourished children in food insecure areas.
With USAID’s support, the WHO will reach an estimated 1.1 million vulnerable internally displaced persons, returnees, and host community members who are at risk of elevated disease burden and death due to diseases across 20 counties in South Sudan’s states facing severe levels of acute food insecurity.
“The United States and USAID continue to support South Sudanese people facing humanitarian disasters, food insecurity, and violence. This contribution to WHO will improve the quality of life and health of South Sudanese,” USAID Mission Director Kate Crawford said.
She urged the Government of South Sudan to address the drivers of persistent subnational violence and assume responsibility for the health and well-being of its citizens while calling for better protection of aid and humanitarian workers.
The WHO South Sudan Country office announced that the latest funding brings USAID’s fiscal year 2022 humanitarian contribution to health care services in South Sudan to US$34M, noting that new assistance brings the total U.S. support to South Sudan to more than US$706M so far in 2022 alone.
“The country is witnessing its worst food crisis since independence in 2011 due to continuing conflict, four years of persistent floods, 18 months of localized drought, and the impact of a global food and fuel crisis exacerbated by Russia’s unprovoked and unjust war in Ukraine,” the agency highlighted.
The WHO Representative a.i. for South Sudan Dr. Fabian Ndenzako lauded the timely contribution from USAID to support the health response in communities impacted by crisis and acute food insecurity.
He further said that the health care financing will contribute to the reduction of preventable illness and death from infectious, non-communicable, and epidemic-prone diseases related to acute food insecurity, floods, and subnational violence in priority high-risk counties of the country.
“USAID’s support will enable us to improve coordination for effective humanitarian responses and ensure that has affected communities have access to critical services.” Dr. Fabian Ndenzako added.
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