Humanitarian Crisis Deepens in South Sudan

Author: Aamnah Fatima Khan

August 22, 2025

HRRC urges the international community to take immediate and collective action to address the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, ensuring protection for civilians and accountability for perpetrators. Serious diplomatic efforts are needed to restore peace and stability in the region.

[Image credit: UNICEF/Phil Hatcher-Moore]

With 7.7 million people experiencing food insecurity and 9.3 million in need of aid, the humanitarian situation in South Sudan continues to decline. With widespread displacement, fatalities, and damage to civilian infrastructure, the nation is going through one of its biggest humanitarian crises since gaining its independence. Trust in the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement has been severely damaged by the battle between militias loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar and government troops loyal to President Salva Kiir.

                                                                                                                                                              The severe humanitarian situation has led UN Assistant Secretary General for Africa Martha Pobee to express alarm and call on the international community to take immediate action to help South Sudanese authorities recommit to the peace process under the 2018 agreement. Pobee underlined that political obstacles, such as conflicts between Kiir and Machar, hindered implementation and that leaders have failed to sustain the progress gained under the peace process. South Sudan has lost the majority of its oil income as a result of the conflict's disruption of oil shipments to Port Sudan.

Meanwhile, neighboring Sudan is facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with over 825,000 children trapped in and around El Fasher and Zamzam IDP refugee camps, and severe acute malnutrition cases have increased by 46% since April 2025. Concerned about the worsening humanitarian situation in Sudan, the US-led mediators, known as the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan (ALPS) Group, have called for immediate action to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access.

                                                                                                                                                              The Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan is only 28.5% funded, which worsens the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan. In addition to systemic sexual assault associated with conflicts, the UN has issued warnings about the dangers of cholera, starvation, and other fatal illnesses. In South Sudan, women and girls are always at risk of violence, and local organizations, particularly those led by women, find it difficult to provide relief because of financial limitations. Addressing the situation and ensuring responsibility for transgressions of international humanitarian law requires swift action from the international community.

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Glossary 

• Acute - Severe or serious.

• Catastrophic - involving or causing sudden great damage or suffering.

• Cholera - A disease causing diarrhoea and dehydration.

• Displacement - the action of moving something from its place or position.

• Fatal - Causing death.

• Food Insecurity - a state where individuals lack consistent access to adequate, safe, and nutritious food.

• Mediators - an independent and neutral third party who can help negotiate agreements between two disputing parties.

• Malnutrition - Poor health due to a lack of proper food.

• Militia - is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel.

• Obstacles - Things that block or make it hard to progress.

• Perpetrators - People who commit a crime or wrongdoing.

• Refugee - a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

• Revitalization - the act of bringing something back to life or restoring its original form or health.

• Starvation - Suffering or death from lack of food.

• Systematic - done or acting according to a fixed plan or system; methodical.

• Transgressions - Acts that break rules or laws

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Sources

1. https://www.jurist.org/news/2025/08/un-official-warns-of-worsening-humanitarian-situation-in-south-sudan/                             

2. https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165673 

3. https://docs.pca-cpa.org/2016/02/South-Sudan-Peace-Agreement-September-2018.pdf

4. https://www.care.org/media-and-press/families-flee-besieged-north-darfur-as-humanitarian-crisis-in-sudan-deepens/

5. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/20/us-led-mediators-appalled-by-humanitarian-crisis-in-war-torn-sudan