Aid Groups Want More Than $1B for South Sudan

The United Nations and aid agencies in South Sudan jointly appealed on Monday for $1.27 billion in aid to get them through June as the seven-week crisis threatens to worsen.

A response plan made public on Monday detailed the quickly declining humanitarian situation around the country, which won independence in July 2011. At least 1,000 people have been killed since violence broke out on Dec. 15 and another 865,000 have been uprooted. The report says that figure could hit one million by June.

“The Crisis Response Plan for #SouthSudan aims to: save lives, alleviate suffering, and pre-position relief before heavy rains hinder access,” tweeted Toby Lanzer, the U.N. assistant secretary-general who is currently in Juba, the capital, as a development and humanitarian coordinator.

Aid workers have reached 300,000 people affected by the fighting, but up to seven million are now estimated to be at some risk of food insecurity. Some of the humanitarian groups participating in the call for donations include the U.N. refugee agency, International Organization for Migration and World Food Programme, among others.

Representatives for President Salva Kiir and his ex-deputy Riek Machar agreed to a ceasefire in Ethiopia on Jan. 23 but both sides have accused the other of breaking it.