UN Humanitarian Chief Stephen O’Brien to visit South Sudan
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WHO: Stephen O’Brien, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
WHAT: Mission to South Sudan
WHEN: 22-25 July 2015
WHERE: Juba and Unity State, South Sudan
UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien is scheduled to visit South Sudan from 22 to 25 July to see first-hand the devastating humanitarian consequences of the conflict and efforts by aid organizations to respond to escalating needs.
During the four-day visit, Mr. O’Brien is expected to meet communities affected by the conflict, senior Government officials, humanitarian partners and the diplomatic community, to discuss the crisis and ways of strengthening the humanitarian operation.
More than 2.2 million people have been uprooted from their homes by the conflict, including 1.6 million people who have been internally displaced and over 600,000 who have fled to Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda as refugees.
The food security situation is alarming. Nearly 70 per cent of the country’s population – 7.9 million out of 11.6 million people – are expected to face food insecurity this rainy season. The lives of more than a quarter of a million children are at risk from rapidly worsening nutrition. In half the states, one in three children suffers from acute malnutrition.
A wrap-up press conference will be arranged on Saturday 25 July at 9am in UN OCHA Conference Room in Juba.
For further details of media opportunities during the trip and to set up interviews, please contact: OCHA South Sudan: Tapiwa Gomo: +211 922406079, gomo@un.org; or Guiomar Pau Sole, +211 920100411, pausole@un.org OCHA New York: Michelle Delaney: +1 917 226 6308,delaneym@un.org; orAmanda Pitt, +1 917 442 1810, pitta@un.org
For more information about the humanitarian situation in South Sudan visit www.unocha.org/South-Sudan http://southsudan.humanitarianresponse.info/