The UN Refugee Agency is appealing for about 500 million dollars to provide aid assistance to South Sudanese refugees in the neighboring countries.

The UNHCR also says it has shortage of funding to run its activities within the country.

The Director of UNHCR Africa Bureau and Regional Coordinator for South Sudan situation, Ms Ann Encontre, told Eye Radio that due to inadequate funding from donors the gap left is big.

“We have a budget for the South Sudan situation in the region; it is five hundred and seventy million dollars. It is only fourteen percent funded,” she said.

“Inside South Sudan, our budget is 275 million dollars and only seventeen percent. So you can see it is a big gap.”

She says insufficient funding has made it difficult to provide enough health care services and class rooms and teachers for refugees, among others needs.

Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya are currently hosting more than 830,000 South Sudanese refugees.