* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
CHILDREN’S charity Plan International has scaled up its food aid work for hungry families in what is set to become the world’s newest country.
Thousands of returnees are flocking into Southern Sudan from the north ahead of independence in July.
The sheer scale of the influx coupled with extreme poverty has prompted a humanitarian response from the charity. “Juba County in Central Equatoria state is considered to have severe cases of acute food shortages,” says Fikru Abebe, Plan’s director in the area. Immediate food aid is needed in Rokon and Dolo districts.
The people of Southern Sudan voted in a January referendum to split from the north.
Plan is distributing cereal and bean rations to returnees, targeting women and children facing severe food shortages. The initiative, which began in region’s Central Equatoria state, has been earmarked to extend over a three-month period.
The charity will also soon embark on a programme of seed distribution and provide farm tools to boost agricultural productivity among returnees. “We are currently providing food but we will soon start distributing seeds and farming tools as well as providing water, sanitation and hygiene services, education and protection of children,” says Mr Abebe.
More than 180,000 southerners have returned from the north. The majority fled the region during the north-south civil war, in which nearly 2.5 million people reportedly died and four million were displaced.
