Conflict Drives Parts of South Sudan to Famine; Children Survive on Leaves, Lilies

JUBA, 9 June 2026 – In eastern Jonglei state, families and children are reduced to foraging leaves and water lilies as hunger edges toward famine in parts of South Sudan after three months of renewed violence, Save the Children warned.

Since fighting escalated in March, aid operations in several areas have been suspended and government orders forced agencies to evacuate, leaving many communities across Jonglei without vital life-saving services and prompting widespread displacement.

Save the Children said it suspended its humanitarian work in Akobo East—a key refuge for people fleeing violence across Jonglei—and moved staff out of the area because of rising insecurity.

The pullback followed an earlier suspension in Walgak in February, when armed groups looted and vandalised a Save the Children office, destroyed a health centre and seized three of the organisation’s vehicles.

Staff in neighbouring counties have heard harrowing accounts of families being cut off from assistance even as seasonal flooding worsens the situation.

In parts of the state, households are surviving on swamp plants—leaves and water lilies—and on seeds set aside for planting, while mothers trek for hours across flooded plains searching for anything edible for their children.

Save the Children reports that thousands of children have stopped attending school; others are being pushed into child labour or early marriage as families grapple with survival. Where schools remain open, some pupils are too weak from hunger to attend.

The extreme coping behaviours documented by aid workers coincide with the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, which warns that four counties—including Nyirol and Akobo in Jonglei—face a risk of famine.

The IPC assessment finds more than 7.8 million people—roughly six in 10 people in South Sudan—are experiencing acute food insecurity. Approximately 2.2 million children under five need treatment for acute malnutrition, an increase of about 90,000 cases since the previous analysis. Nearly 700,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the most life-threatening form that requires urgent, specialised care.

Health workers describe children arriving at nutrition centres gravely thin after surviving for weeks on diluted porridge or a mixture of salt and flour.

These trends are visible at a nutrition site at Bor Hospital in Bor County, Jonglei state, where Save the Children runs three programmes to screen and treat malnourished children and support pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. Tabisa Ajer, 31, a health worker at the hospital, said:

“We have over 60 children who are severely malnourished right now. Usually, we have 60 later in the wet season when malnutrition tends to spike but the number is high for this early on. The numbers have spiked due to the season and the worsening hunger crisis, flooding and insecurity. A lot of children coming here have diarrhea and vomiting.

“We are just at the start of the rainy season now, and June to August the hunger situation usually worsens. This year is more dangerous than the other years. Insecurity is impacting food cultivation.”

Chris Nyamandi, Country Director for Save the Children in South Sudan, said:

“Solutions to extreme hunger are political. This situation can be prevented and mitigated, before more children suffer. Next month South Sudan will mark 15 years of independence and greater investment in inclusive peace and social protection is needed to prevent violence amidst an escalating, underfunded humanitarian crisis response.

“In an already hyper-prioritised humanitarian system, international aid cuts continue to disproportionately impact those most vulnerable in one of the world’s most fragile states.”

Save the Children is urging all parties to prioritise civilian protection, respect international humanitarian law and guarantee safe, sustained and unhindered access for humanitarian operations to affected communities.

The organisation is also calling for larger, more flexible funding that can respond to the urgent needs of displaced people living in overstretched communities, with financing channels structured to reach local actors delivering principled aid.

Save the Children has worked in South Sudan since 1991, providing children with education, healthcare and nutrition services and supporting families with food security and livelihoods assistance.

ENDS

*******************************************************************************************************************

For further enquiries please contact:

Delfhin Mugo, Media Manager – Africa, based in NAIROBI

[email protected]

We have Chris Nyamandi, Country Director for Save the Children in South Sudan, available as a spokesperson.

Our media out of hours (GMT) contact is [email protected] / +44(0)7831 650409

Please also check our X account @Save_GlobalNews for news alerts, quotes, statements and location Vlogs.

<p>Source: Save the Children </p>