Skip to content

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Suffering South Sudan

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes

People are beginning to starve to death in South Sudan.

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

5.5 million people are starving in South Sudan.

5.5 million people are starving in South Sudan.

Highlights

By Tony Magliano
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
3/7/2017 (7 years ago)

Published in Africa

Keywords: South Sudan, Sudan, Sudanese, Starvation, Global Starvation, Famine

The United Nations has formally declared that a state of famine exists in this east African nation, with 100,000 people immediately facing starvation, and 1 million additional South Sudanese teetering on the brink of famine.
   
"Many families have exhausted every means they have to survive," said Food and Agriculture Organization representative in South Sudan, Serge Tissot.
          
These predominately farming people have lost livestock, sold farming tools and eaten their stock of planting seeds. They have nothing left to live on.
   


And as things stand now, this monumental human crisis will get worse. The U.N. warns "The total number of food insecure people is expected to rise to 5.5 million at the height of the lean season in July if nothing is done to curb the severity and spread of the food crisis."

And according to U.N. Children's Fund representative in South Sudan, Jeremy Hopkins, "More than 1 million children are currently estimated to be acutely malnourished across South Sudan; over a quarter of a million children are already severely malnourished. If we do not reach these children with urgent aid many of them will die."
   
South Sudan, the world's newest nation - just over five years old - has been struggling to survive since its birth.
   
Not only is it one of the very poorest countries on earth, it has also suffered during most of its short life from an ongoing civil war.

Just days ago, the Catholic Bishops of South Sudan issued a pastoral message to their suffering brothers and sisters saying "Our country is not at peace. People live in fear. The civil war ... continues. Despite our calls to all parties, factions and individuals to stop the war, nevertheless killing, raping, looting, displacement, attacks on churches and destruction of property continue all over the country... There is a general lack of respect for human life."
   
The South Sudanese bishops then note that while poor rains have affected parts of the country, the famine is man-made. And with deep insight they say, "Hunger, in turn, creates insecurity, in a vicious circle in which the hungry man, especially if he has a gun, may resort to looting to feed himself and his family."
   


President Trump wants to increase already astronomically high military spending by $54 billion, while making deep cuts in poverty-focused foreign aid, which is a tiny portion of the U.S. budget - less than 1 percent.
   
Therefore, it is very important for us to email and call our two U.S. senators and congressperson (Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121) urging them to provide  supplemental emergency funding now for the suffering people of South Sudan. And to pass a 2018 federal budget that significantly increases, not decreases foreign poverty-focused development assistance and emergency aid to poor nations.
   
Since war is fueling the famine, also ask your congressional delegation to urge President Trump to request that the U.N. Security Council impose a total arms embargo on South Sudan and actively attempt to negotiate a permanent cease fire. 
   
And in the spirit of Lent's call to deepen our efforts of prayer, fasting and alms-giving, please consider making a generous donation to Catholic Relief Services. (In the box labeled "special request" type "For South Sudan.")
   
Now consider that Yemen, Somalia and Nigeria are on the brink of famine.
   
I know, it's overwhelming. But what do you think it's like for them?   

--------------------------------------
Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings about Catholic social teaching. His keynote address, "Advancing the Kingdom of God in the 21st Century," has been well received by diocesan and parish gatherings from Santa Clara, Calif. to Baltimore, Md. Tony can be reached at tmag@zoominternet.net.

---


'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'


Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Prayer of the Day logo
Saint of the Day logo

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.