The UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs says crises like the one in South Sudan will continue to grow and worsen, due to factors such as population growth.

Valerie Amos says poverty and the effect of climate change also make the situation critical.

She made the remark during a wide-ranging address in New York, to kick off a three-day UN Economic and Social Council’s, Humanitarian Affairs forum on Monday.

The forum is an annual platform for Member States, UN agencies, humanitarian and development partners, the private sector and affected communities.

It is meant to discuss new and pressing humanitarian issues.

Over the last few months in South Sudan, thousands of people were threatened with the risk of famine following the outbreak of the fighting in December last year.

Heavy rains have also affected Internally Displaced Persons’ camps, posing risk of communicable diseases.

The world body’s Emergency Coordinator called for “a new [humanitarian] business model” – one that manages risks rather than deals with crises.

“It is becoming clearer with every large-scale crisis and with the protracted nature of others, that the way we have been doing business is not sustainable,” said Valerie Amos.

The theme of this year’s meeting is: “The future of humanitarian affairs: Towards greater inclusiveness, coordination, interoperability and effectiveness.”