Fleeing fighting to find hunger in South Sudan

Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the fighting in Sudan to South Sudan are going multiple days without food as child malnutrition soars, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.

The UN agency says a hunger emergency is looming on the border between the two countries and admits it is struggling to meet the growing humanitarian needs.

“We are seeing families leave one disaster for another as they flee danger in Sudan only to find despair in South Sudan,” says Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP’s South Sudan country director.

It is estimated that 90% of people are going for days without eating and already one in five children and a quarter of pregnant or breastfeeding mothers are malnourished.

They are fleeing the war which broke out in Sudan in April.

Many say they were robbed along the way and often people arrive with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

The majority are South Sudanese who were living and working in Sudan. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war.

The WFP says it simply does not have the resources to provide life-saving assistance.

It needs more than $120m (£99.5m) to increase support to those who need it most.