Thousands of children have been provided with life-saving humanitarian aid as a result of a European Union donation to UNICEF South Sudan worth more than eight million euros (approx. USD 10 million).

The funding has been used to provide services such as psychosocial support, life-saving vaccines and nutritional supplements. In the area of nutrition alone, the ECHO funding has enabled over 160,000 children to be treated for severe acute malnutrition.

“We are very grateful for the continued support of the European Union, who remain one of our most crucial partners in responding to the ongoing humanitarian crisis,” said Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF’s Representative in South Sudan. “With these funds, we have been able to assist some of the most vulnerable children in the country, enabling them to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.”

Through the support of the European Union and other key donors, in 2017 UNICEF and partners were able to:

• Immunize over 1.8 million children against measles
• Provide nearly 300,000 children with psychosocial support
• Admit 206,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition into therapeutic feeding programmes

Since 1992 the European Commission has partnered with UNICEF to reach populations affected by emergencies with life-saving aid. UNICEF requires $183 million in 2018 to fund its emergency programmes, which are carried out by its many partner organisations on the ground in some of the hardest to reach areas in South Sudan.