Coronavirus: The plight of South Sudan children continues to deepen

This is one of the streets of a suburb of South Sudan’s capital, Juba. Generally, life is slowly returning to normal in Juba as well as most suburbs, after a violent conflict overtook the country causing death of hundreds of thousands of people and displacement of millions of civilians out of their homes. Picture by Ochan Hannington | 22 Nov 2019

According to UNICEF, over 1.1 million children are estimated to be acutely malnourished in the world’s youngest country, South Sudan. Before coronavirus pandemic, the UN had declared famine in some parts of the country. In face of coronavirus lockdown restrictions, experts believe the number of cases of malnutrition in children could double soon. At children’s hospital, in the country’s capital, Juba, the situation is described as worrying. Al Saba Children’s Hospital is filled to capacity. The hospital can hardly cope, according to the authorities. Our reporter Emmanuel Obeid has the story.