The civil war in South Sudan may be over, but the need for humanitarian funding is increasingly urgent

Over the last five days, Elizabeth, 44, who lives in a remote village in southern Sudan, is living on wild berries and blood from a neighbor's cow because she has no food to eat.

The mother of eight children risks being beaten or raped by gangs when she searches for bitter, bitter fruit in the dark, dry bush surrounding Gumuruk to feed her children.

She faces the same dangers during the painful eight-hour walk to the nearest freshwater pump.

Most of the boreholes around his village, located about 300 km northeast of the capital, Juba, were destroyed during a five-year civil war that tore South Sudan apart, causing the 39, one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world.

Despite a peace agreement signed in September officially ending the conflict, she tells me that nothing has been rebuilt and is therefore even more desperate this year. With a blind husband and too many mouths to feed, she can not do anything.

"We need water, food, health facilities, pretty much everything," Elizabeth tells me from inside a mud-filled reed hut that offers little protection against the heat of 45 ° C.

Emaciated children with swollen belly, revealing sign of malnutrition, play in the mud outside.

"I know at least 10 people who died of hunger last year and even more thirsty. Women are the hardest hit because we have a responsibility to supply ourselves, "said Elizabeth.

To get to the village, we had to take an hour and a half from Juba by UN helicopter, and then three hours drive on dirt roads, often impbadable during the long rainy season.

NGOs operating there, such as Oxfam, who are trying to rehabilitate water pumps, say they face a chronic lack of funds due to donor fatigue.

Last year, the total humanitarian response in South Sudan was only funded by two-thirds. By 2019, they really need to reach more people and therefore need more money. Yet targeted funding is down $ 200 million (155 million pounds) from the $ 1.72 billion forecast for last year.

But many fear that the intervention program will be even less funded than that of 2018; it is now badumed that the humanitarian crisis is over because firearms have largely become silent.

And that's what L & # 39; Independent will explore in the coming days a mini-series of South Sudan.

According to the UN, in 2019, 7.1 million people, two-thirds of the population of southern Sudan, will need humanitarian badistance, an increase over last year. Of these, more than 5.2 million are hungry.

It was even after the signing of the peace agreement between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the rebel group led by Riek Machar in September. The historic agreement has put an end to most fighting that has erupted intermittently since 2013, leaving at least 50,000 dead and more than four million internally and externally displaced. from the country.

With the end of the fighting, some of the two million South Sudanese who fled to neighboring countries could return, putting additional pressure on scarce and exhausted resources.

"While the peace agreement signed in September 2018 offers new hope to the South Sudanese people, five years of devastating conflict have put the country on their knees," said Ranjan Poudyal, Oxfam's national director for the country. South Sudan.

He added that it is now essential that the international community give its full support to the reconstruction of South Sudan and the survival of the people.

"Every year, more people are hungry – compared to 2018, more people need support this year. Humanitarian aid has so far prevented famine from escaping, but we can not rest on our laurels now. "

The media drew the country's attention in 2017, at the height of the fighting, when pockets of famine were officially declared in different states of the county.

Although the last report on the clbadification of the integrated food security phase did not identify areas of famine earlier this year, about 36,000 people scattered throughout the country, including in Boma where Gumuruk is located , are in the famine phase.

Most of the rest of the country is below phase 4 of the food emergency.

There are also several vulnerable areas like Yei and Lainya, where data are simply not available, skirmishes between rebel factions that are not parties to the peace agreement, and government and groups of people. opposition, which broke out in recent weeks.

Few people are happy to talk about this, but it seems to be internal struggles between authorities and observers about the famine declaration, as the government does not want the word "f" to be used. The crisis in Boma has apparently been at the heart of this battle.

And that is why, now more than ever, help is needed to bring South Sudan, which is finally at peace, out of the depths of the country – and this is not more deeply felt than in Gumuruk.

"Hundreds of people are already starving, and it's mostly women and children," says Elizabeth, saying goodbye.

"I saw fresh blood from a living cow. I'm trying to get wild fruits to survive. There are many like me. What can we do?"

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