US Sending $95Mln In Emergency Aid For 4Mln South Sudan Refugees - State Dept.

The US government is sending almost $95 million in aid for four million refugees displaced by the fighting in South Sudan, Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price announced in a statement on Thursday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2021) The US government is sending almost $95 million in aid for four million refugees displaced by the fighting in South Sudan, Department of State Spokesperson Ned price announced in a statement on Thursday.

"Today, the United States announced more than $95 million to support the response to the South Sudan humanitarian emergency," Price said. "(T)his funding will provide critical protection, economic opportunity, shelter, essential healthcare, emergency food assistance, safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene services."

The aid will be sent to some of the nearly four million refugees from South Sudan and internally displaced people in the country and it will also support refugees and host communities in Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the statement said.

"This announcement includes nearly $53 million through the Agency for International Development and nearly $43 million from the Department of State. It brings the total U.S. humanitarian assistance to more than $482 million in Fiscal Year 2021," Price said.

Flooding, ethnic and political violence, and lack of effective governance in recent years have ruined livelihoods, displaced additional South Sudanese, and heightened food insecurity, raising the likelihood of famine conditions in parts of the country. The COVID-19 pandemic has further compounded the crisis, the statement explained.