The Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement is warning that the situation in South Sudan is becoming increasingly dire, with armed conflict, violence, diseases and natural disasters wreaking havoc on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across the country. According to the United Nations, the dire humanitarian situation in South Sudan has left 9.9 million people in need of life-saving assistance, while critical funding shortfalls are exacerbating the situation.
In a statement on Friday, the RCRC Movement emphasized that armed conflict and violence had forced more than half a million people to flee their homes in 2025 alone, sometimes through flooded wetlands, leaving them uncertain where their next meal would come from and exposing them to disease and the risk of further violence.
“South Sudanese people continue to face severe humanitarian consequences, driven by relentless conflict and violence, climate shocks, disease outbreaks and a struggling economy in a context of political instability,” said John Lobor, Secretary General of the South Sudan Red Cross (SSRC).
“This persistent crisis has eroded community resilience, shattered essential services and displaced millions of people.”
The SSRC, which works throughout the country with over 19,000 volunteers, is at the forefront of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement's efforts to provide the humanitarian assistance that the South Sudanese people and communities so desperately need.
The RCRC Movement in South Sudan consists of the SSRC, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the German Red Cross, the Finnish Red Cross, the Danish Red Cross, the Swiss Red Cross, the Swedish Red Cross, the Norwegian Red Cross, the Dutch Red Cross and the Canadian Red Cross.
Large-scale displacement is driven by violence in Jonglei State
According to the UN, renewed fighting since the start of 2026 has forced more than 415,000 people to flee, including approximately 110,000 to neighboring Ethiopia. Hostilities have continued to escalate across Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity states, with airstrikes and armed clashes being reported.
The situation in Jonglei, Upper Nile and several other states has deteriorated to levels not seen since 2017. This deterioration comes amid escalating conflict that is forcing people to flee their homes and restricting humanitarian access.
Since March 2025, political instability and rising hostilities between armed groups have led to clashes in Upper Nile State, Jonglei State and other parts of the country. Over the past fourteen months, these clashes have resulted in deaths and injuries, as well as the destruction of civilian infrastructure.
According to the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, hundreds of people wounded in the fighting have lacked access to life-saving medical care, and the number of people living with disabilities as a result of injuries sustained in armed conflict is the highest it has been in nearly ten years.
Political tensions raise fears of renewed large-scale violence
South Sudan remains at a heightened risk of renewed large-scale violence, with political tensions intensifying and ethnically targeted attacks spreading, particularly in Jonglei, Unity, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria states. There has also been a surge in human rights violations, including the forced recruitment of children by armed forces.
In February, the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, established by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), warned that political and military leaders were undermining the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement. This puts civilians at risk of renewed conflict, mass atrocity crimes and serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law.
The escalation of conflict in Jonglei and Upper Nile states has exacerbated the cholera outbreak in South Sudan, jeopardizing the progress made in containing it. As of last week, more than 103,000 cases had been reported across 55 counties and administrative areas, resulting in 1,669 deaths, with a case fatality rate that exceeds the emergency threshold.
Millions face severe hunger as the risk of famine grows
Meanwhile, acute hunger is also on the rise. According to the latest food security report, over half of South Sudan's population — more than 7.8 million people — are expected to experience crisis-level hunger (IPC Phase 3) or worse between April and July 2026, during the lean season. Of these, 2.5 million people are experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 4), facing significant food shortages and extremely high rates of acute malnutrition.
The situation of acute malnutrition in South Sudan continues to deteriorate. Overall, more than 2.2 million children under five are experiencing acute malnutrition and urgently require nutritional services and treatment. Additionally, an estimated 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women in South Sudan are malnourished.
Tens of thousands of people are at risk of famine. At least 73,000 people in Nasir and Ulang counties in Upper Nile State, and Akobo, Fangak, Nyirol and Uror counties in Jonglei State are experiencing Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5), the most severe level of acute food insecurity.
Akobo and Nyirol counties are facing dire humanitarian conditions
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a humanitarian assessment mission conducted across at least 12 locations in Akobo County in early April identified nearly 142,000 people in urgent need of assistance.
The mission reported rising cases of malnutrition and acute watery diarrhoea, particularly among children and women. Meanwhile, looting and the destruction of health and nutrition facilities have severely disrupted essential services and response efforts.
In Nyatim, Nyirol County, around 30,000 displaced people who fled violence in Duk and Uror counties were reported to be living in extremely dire conditions. At least 58 deaths have reportedly been linked to lack of access to essential services, including food assistance. Aid agencies have been unable to carry out assessments or deliver aid due to access restrictions imposed by local authorities.
UN welcomes commitment to open Akobo to aid teams
In a statement released on Friday, the Acting Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Humphrey Karamagi, welcomed the latest commitments from the transitional government parties to allow aid teams into Akobo County in Jonglei State and to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian staff and equipment.
“Humanitarian partners stand ready, with teams and supplies pre-positioned, to rapidly scale up emergency food assistance, protection, nutrition and health services in Akobo County and its surrounding areas,” Karamagi said.
“A narrow window now exists to reach vulnerable communities before the onset of the rainy season where access becomes more challenging and deepens humanitarian needs.”
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis identified Akobo as one of the Jonglei State counties projected to experience catastrophic levels of hunger and malnutrition (IPC Phase 5) between April and July 2026.
During recent fighting, civilian infrastructure, including Akobo Hospital, has been looted and damaged, cutting off essential healthcare and putting mothers and children at greater risk.
Karamagi praised the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) for helping to keep aid operations safe and for protecting relief supplies. He stressed that aid workers need reliable, safe access over time in order to deliver life-saving assistance.
“Full, safe and sustained humanitarian access at this time is essential to enable urgent life-saving assistance to reach affected communities and help avert a further deterioration of this worrisome humanitarian crisis we see unfolding,” he said.
Funding gaps hinder aid responses as conflict in Sudan compounds the emergency
South Sudan’s humanitarian crisis continues to worsen, with conflict, displacement and disease outbreaks putting further strain on limited resources and humanitarian operations. The situation has been exacerbated by the ongoing war in Sudan, which has forced over 1.3 million people to flee to South Sudan since the conflict began three years ago. Around 882,000 of these are South Sudanese nationals.
OCHA has repeatedly warned that those fleeing the war arrive exhausted and malnourished with nowhere to go. Basic services are under immense pressure. Aid agencies in Renk County have reported that humanitarian conditions at the Renk Transit Center, which is located at the border, are rapidly deteriorating and require urgent, coordinated action.
At the same time, the humanitarian response in South Sudan suffers from severe underfunding. The US$1.46 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2026 prioritizes providing targeted assistance to 4.3 million of the most vulnerable people. However, to date, the plan has only received just over $356 million, representing 24 percent of the required funding.