Germany is funding an emergency nutrition response for vulnerable communities in Guit County, South Sudan’s Unity State, to improve access to services in areas where nutrition coverage remains inadequate, the German Embassy in Juba said on Tuesday.
The funding will support the Coalition for Humanity, an organisation implementing the response in the county, with a focus on four priority locations: Kuach, Kuerguiny, Wathnyotna and Chotyiel.
German Ambassador to South Sudan Sebastian Brökelmann said the funding is intended to help vulnerable communities, particularly women and children, cope with acute malnutrition.
“Germany is continuously supporting the people of South Sudan. We focus on the needs of the most vulnerable groups,” Brökelmann said in a statement issued by the embassy.
“With this new funding, we want to support underserved communities in Guit County, Unity State. By funding the Coalition for Humanity’s project, we want to ensure that the affected vulnerable population, particularly women and children, have adequate support to combat acute malnutrition,” he added.
Brökelmann also reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to South Sudan, describing it as the country’s second-largest bilateral donor.
Vulnerable groups
The response will prioritise young children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, who are particularly vulnerable to acute malnutrition and related health risks, according to the embassy.
It will also target displaced people, returnees and households whose access to food, healthcare, nutrition services and other essential assistance has been disrupted by conflict and recurrent flooding.
The funding is intended to reach communities in remote areas that are frequently cut off by flooding or insecurity and have limited access to fixed nutrition facilities.
The embassy did not disclose the amount of funding or the duration of the project in its statement.
Protracted crisis
Guit County faces a prolonged nutrition emergency driven by acute food insecurity, flooding, displacement, localised insecurity, disease risks, disrupted humanitarian assistance and restrictions on humanitarian access.
The county is classified in Phase 4 of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) for acute food insecurity and Phase 4 for acute malnutrition, indicating a serious humanitarian situation.
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