ADDIS ABABA
Two United Nations officials on Wednesday appealed for providing assistance for thousands of South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia.
Speaking following a visit to two newly-established refugee camps in Gambella, some 765km west of Ethiopia, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Gutierrez and World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director Ertharin Cousin described as "dire" the situation of South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia.
A total of $120 million has been earmarked for nearly 80,000 refugees in Ethiopia.
"It is 60 percent underfunded," said Cousin, who toured the Kule camp, 40km from Gambella, and Pagak camp, 100km on border with South Sudan.
Gutierres, for his part, said humanitarian assistance needs in Africa have been affected by needs for other areas around the world such as Syria, which has been ravaged by a three-year civil conflict.
Wednesday's visit came after the two U.N. officials visited Juba to assess the situation of thousands of internally displaced people from fighting in the world's nascent state.
South Sudan has been shaken by violence since last December, when South Sudanese President Salva Kiir accused sacked vice-president Riek Machar of standing behind a failed coup attempt.
The violence has already claimed more than 10,000 lives.
The U.N. estimates that some 3.7 million South Sudanese are now "severely food insecure," while more than 867,000 have been displaced by the violence.
The visit of the two U.N. officials coincided with the death of a child at the Pagak refugee camp.
"We witness today a mother lose her child, we heard her cry…by the time she arrived, the child was too malnourished," Cousin said, calling on the international community for filling the gap of humanitarian needs for South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia.
By Addis Getachew
englishnews@aa.com.tr
