UN pledges $11M to help resettle displaced S. Sudanese

By Parach Mach

JUBA, South Sudan (AA) - United Nations said on Friday that it has pledged $11 million to resettle some 270,000 South Sudanese internally displaced persons in the world’s youngest nation.

Alain Noudehou, the UN humanitarian coordinator and deputy special representative to the UN secretary general, said in a statement that United Nations is strongly committed to support the peace efforts and to alleviate the suffering of the South Sudanese people.

“Humanitarian actors have secured $11 million from the United Nation Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help displaced people who are spontaneously returning to their original areas ahead of the raining season,” Noudehou said during the stakeholders meeting organized by Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC).

This funding will bolster health, education, and water and sanitation activities in the areas of return, he added.

Since South Sudan conflict started in 2013, almost 3 million people have fled South Sudan, and another 2 million are internally displaced with more than 200,000 still in UN protection sites.

In the last year alone, the spreading conflict and abuses pushed over 1 million South Sudanese into refugee settlements in Uganda. The conflict has left over 300,000 people dead and put 6 million at the risk of starvation.