Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Minister Albino Atak Akol addresses the Parallel High-Level Event: in Action in the Sudan Emergency in Geneva. December 16, 2023. (-)

South Sudan’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs has told a meeting in Geneva that the humanitarian situation in the country could get worse due to a drastic reduction in funding and cuts in food ratios to the returnees.

Albino Atak Akol was speaking on Saturday during the Second Global Refugee Forum (GRF) on the Sudan Crisis, in Switzerland.

Mr. Atak said the situation remains dire although humanitarian partners are doing everything they can to help.

He attributed the situation to a drastic reduction in humanitarian funding and cuts in food ratios to the returnees.

Minister Atak further says the government is unable to provide basic services to refugees and returnees including treating and resettling them in safe locations due to funding constraints.

“Our humanitarian partners are doing everything they can to help, but the situation is dire. We are unable to provide basic services and treat simple illnesses, prevent hunger and help people settle in safe locations,” Atak said.

As we face this crisis, with no end in sight, humanitarian funding is drastically reduced and we expect more cuts in food rations for refugees next year, and less possibility for partners to provide decent shelters that would permit refugees to live in dignity. Worse, with the attention of the world elsewhere, we risk a crisis within a crisis,” he said.

Minister Atak further called on development actors to step forward and act quickly.

He stressed that those who are fleeing the Sudan conflict must find ways to restore their lives and dignity by finding safe homes and making sure they find work and their children go to school.

He called on the humanitarian partners to invest in road infrastructure- particularly between Renk-Malakal-Maban routes so that those fleeing can move from border points.

Close to 450,000 people have moved to South Sudan, of whom 83% are South Sudanese and 15% Sudanese refugees.

“The government of South Sudan has welcomed them with open arms as opened its borders to receive everybody that fleeing the conflict.”