A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in South Sudan, where nearly half the population is now facing acute hunger, according to a shocking new warning from international charity Oxfam. With funding drying up and corruption draining the country’s oil wealth, millions are being pushed to the edge of survival.
Oxfam revealed Wednesday that South Sudan received only 40% of its $1.6 billion humanitarian funding target for 2025, leaving critical relief operations severely crippled. The organization estimates that nearly six million people currently lack access to food, clean water, and sanitation, and that number could soar to 7.5 million by April 2026.
“The world is turning away”
“It’s as if the world is turning its back on those who need help most, at the very moment their survival hangs by a thread,” said Shabnam Baloch, Oxfam’s country director. Aid workers warn that without immediate financial support, thousands could die from hunger-related causes.
The situation has been worsened by entrenched corruption and theft of national resources, including oil revenues allegedly siphoned off by South Sudan’s political elite — abuses previously documented by the United Nations. As a result, the country has been left with failing infrastructure and almost no functioning public services.
Aid cuts hit hard
In the border town of Renk, up to 1,000 people arrive daily seeking food and refuge. Yet Oxfam says it will be forced to reduce operations there by 70% within a month, and could shut down completely by February without new funding.
South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, gained independence in 2011 but soon plunged into a devastating five-year civil war that displaced more than two million people. Today, the country is further strained by the arrival of refugees fleeing conflict in neighboring Sudan, raising fears of renewed instability.
Unless international donors step in quickly, analysts warn the crisis could escalate into one of the worst hunger disasters in recent history.