JUBA – Life-saving services for nearly 187,000 displaced people in South Sudan could collapse within weeks due to a $6 million funding shortfall, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned on Thursday.
The shortfall threatens the survival of communities in the Bentiu and Malakal displacement camps, which have served as “places of last resort” for families fleeing a decade of conflict, recurring floods, and the spillover effects of the ongoing war in neighboring Sudan.
“Without immediate funding, taps will run dry and latrines will overflow,” said Vijaya Souri, IOM Chief of Mission in South Sudan.
“We are facing a public health crisis that will trigger rapid disease outbreaks and renewed displacement just as the rainy season begins.”
The warning comes as South Sudan grapples with a “deteriorating human rights crisis” and a political transition that international observers describe as “falling apart.”
A recent report by the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan noted a “renewed slide into full-scale conflict,” with ceasefire violations and aerial bombardments reported in civilian areas.
The humanitarian situation is further strained by the arrival of over 800,000 returnees and refugees fleeing the war in Sudan. In the Unity and Upper Nile states, population movements have pushed local infrastructure to a breaking point.
The IOM has appealed to international donors to bridge the $6 million gap through the end of 2026, warning that the “downstream impacts” of a service cessation would be felt by over half a million residents in surrounding towns.
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