Toby Lanzer, UN Humanitarian Coordinator.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator has warned that South Sudan could collapse by the end of the year if urgent action is not taken to help see its people through the current crisis.

Toby Lanzer was quoted as saying, “People are crying out for help,” during an interview with the UN News Centre.

Mr. Lanzer, who is meeting with donors and others in New York and Washington D.C. this week, said the situation in South Sudan is a call to action for the international community to stand with the world’s youngest nation and not let it fail, the UN News Center says.

The report quotes the UNOCHA boss saying there was “need for a ceasefire, that works for civilians on the ground; that enables them to move, to go back to their homes, to look after their livestock, to plant and to cultivate”, he says, because people are afraid of going back to their homes.

He said this will enable South Sudanese to get through the current crisis.

The UN Humanitarian coordinator, Toby Lanzer recently visited Bor in Jonglei State and Minkaman in Lakes State to assess the humanitarian situation created by the political crisis.

Last month International Humanitarian Organizations warned that the lives of 3.7 million civilians in South Sudan could be at risk if their humanitarian needs are not met before the rainy season.

Some 870,000 displaced since it first erupted in mid-December and some 77,000 people have sought protection at UN bases around the country.