Description
New field assessment data collected in June and July affirm prior warnings of the risk of Famine (IPC Phase 5) in Luakpiny/Nasir (Nasir) and Ulang counties in Upper Nile State, South Sudan, as issued by the IPC and FEWS NET in June. Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) outcomes are already ongoing in Nasir and Ulang, and extremely high levels of hunger, malnutrition, and mortality will likely persist until at least the end of the lean season in October, when the rainy season ends and the harvest begins. Global acute malnutrition rates (GAM) among children under five have reached 25.4 and 23.4 percent, respectively, based on mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurements collected in areas accessible to humanitarians. 23 and 11 percent of households, respectively, are experiencing extreme hunger indicative of a ≥50 percent food consumption deficit based on Household Hunger Score (HHS). Conflict between national army and local militia forces, a severe cholera outbreak, and starvation have also resulted in household reports of atypically high mortality, though trauma deaths remain the highest driver. These data suggest the food consumption and acute malnutrition thresholds for Famine (IPC Phase 5) may have been passed in Nasir; however, non-trauma mortality remains relatively low. Conditions in inaccessible areas are largely unknown, but it is likely that the severity of acute food insecurity is similar to or worse than that observed in accessible areas.
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