Two starve to death in Torit County

A member of parliament at the Eastern Equatoria State legislative assembly says two children have starved to death in Bur Payam’s Ohiri Boma, Torit County.

There are roughly 1,000 people in Ohiri Boma, where the lawmaker says is currently facing acute hunger.

Honorable Angelina Quinto attributes the situation to inadequate rainfall this season, which made cultivation impossible.

“The people in Ohiri have hunger and two children died because of hunger,” Hon Quinto told Singaita FM via phone from Torit on Tuesday.

She said the locals have been subsisting on wild fruits such as desert dates and coconut fruits.

The parliamentarian appealed to the concerned government institutions and humanitarian groups for support.

“Now, I am going to the RRC office to report this matter. I think the hunger is going to attack all parts of Eastern Equatoria, not only Ohiri,” she continued.

In November 2022, UN agencies predicted that as many as 7.8 million people in South Sudan, two-thirds of the population, might face severe food shortages during the April-to-July 2023 lean season due to floods, drought and conflict.

“At the same time, there has been a decline in funding for humanitarian programs despite the steady rise in humanitarian needs,” said UNICEF, WFP, FAO then in a joint statement.

A surge in global food prices reportedly triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a major grains exporter, left humanitarian agencies with funding shortfalls as donors diverted their focus to that conflict.