UN Asks For $2.7Bln To Help South Sudan Refugees - Statement

The UN refugee agency urged international donors on Tuesday to contribute $2.7 billion in funds for refugees who fled South Sudan after a civil war broke out five years ago.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2018) The UN refugee agency urged international donors on Tuesday to contribute $2.7 billion in funds for refugees who fled South Sudan after a civil war broke out five years ago.

"The UN Refugee Agency and NGO partners are today launching an appeal for US$2.7 billion to address the live-saving humanitarian needs of South Sudanese refugees," a statement attributed to the agency's spokesman, Charlie Yaxley, reads.

He said the money was needed to finance over 2.2 million refugees sheltered in neighboring countries - Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Congo and the Central African Republic - through 2020.

Just over a third of the $1.4 billion needed this year was donated to the charity and its partners, Yaxley said, putting immense pressure on the asylum countries.

Rising needs have outpaced funding, he said, leaving many refugee children out of schools. The UN has also been working on social cohesion between the hosts and the South Sudanese, a vast majority of whom are women and children traumatized by rape and murders of their loved ones during their flight.

South Sudan has been mired in a civil war that erupted two years after it split from Sudan in 2011. As many as 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which led to the largest refugee crisis on the continent. A fragile peace was reached in September after several failed attempts to end fighting.