Severe flooding continues to wreak havoc in South Sudan, affecting nearly 270,000 people in 12 counties across four states: Jonglei, Unity, Upper Nile, and Central Equatoria, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday. These floods come at a time when the country is already facing an alarming humanitarian crisis, with 9.3 million people in need of assistance and 7.7 million experiencing acute hunger.
In an update today, OCHA reported that the latest flooding has submerged farmland, homes, and humanitarian facilities, disrupting access to essential services such as education, health care, nutrition, and water. The affected areas have previously grappled with floods, displacement, food insecurity, and cholera.
Over 100,000 people in the counties of Panyijiar, Twic East, Terekeka, Pochalla, Fangak, and Ayod have been displaced and are seeking safety and shelter on higher ground. This mass displacement has resulted in overcrowding at relocation sites and tensions among displaced families. Furthermore, waterborne diseases and snakebites are increasing public health risks.
South Sudan is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and has experienced consecutive years of record flooding, resulting in widespread displacement, loss of agricultural land, and destruction of livelihoods. In 2024, severe flooding affected approximately 1.4 million people across the country.
Meteorological forecasts predict above-normal rainfall between September and November 2025, with peak flooding anticipated from September to December. High-risk areas include Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity, Warrap, Lakes, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and parts of Central Equatoria states.
An estimated 1.6 million people across South Sudan are at risk of flooding in the coming months. This looming threat exacerbates the existing humanitarian crisis and underscores the urgent need for additional resources to support those affected.
South Sudan is currently experiencing one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises and one of the bleakest outlooks since gaining independence in 2011. Despite growing needs, the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP)—which requires $1.7 billion to support nearly 5.4 million of the country's most vulnerable people—is only 29 percent funded to date.
Plummeting global funding is making the already dire humanitarian situation in the country worse. Nationwide, 7.7 million people — 57 percent of the population — are experiencing crisis, emergency, or catastrophic levels of food insecurity. Among them, 83,000 people are experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC5), and around 2.4 million facing emergency levels (IPC4).
An unprecedented 2.3 million children under the age of five are at risk of malnutrition. Of those children, over 714,000 suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and require urgent medical attention.
According to a June UN report, South Sudan is one of the world’s top five hunger hotspots, where people face extreme hunger, starvation, and death.
The country is also home to numerous public health crises exacerbated by limited immunization coverage, disrupted immunization services, and widespread displacement. Inadequate access to basic necessities, such as food, clean water, and health care, contributes to the near collapse of livelihoods.
Since March, political instability and rising hostilities between armed groups have led to clashes in Upper Nile State and other regions. These clashes have resulted in deaths, injuries, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, forcing many people, who are already struggling with displacement, disease, and food insecurity, to flee again.
The sharp deterioration of the country's political and security situation threatens to undermine the peace progress made up to this point and plunge the country back into war. Tensions have been heightened by internal conflict, particularly between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those aligned with Vice President Riek Machar.
Meanwhile, the ongoing war in neighboring Sudan is fueling instability and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan. Humanitarian agencies are straining their limited resources to support over 1.2 million refugees and returnees who have fled the conflict in Sudan since April 2023 and are now in South Sudan.