Thank you very much, Mr. Levitt.
Thank you for addressing this issue that is extremely important for children and families in South Sudan and important for us as Canadians, of course, because of all the support that Canada has given and continues to give to the people of South Sudan.
Certainly, for us as UNICEF, we are playing a leadership role in coordinating the global humanitarian response for children in this country. We're leading relief efforts in nutrition, education, and child protection, and in water, sanitation, and hygiene. We take on this role in order to try to avoid the duplication of services among the agencies that are working in South Sudan, and I must take this time to thank Global Affairs Canada for the commitment announced last week towards our work in a number of countries, including South Sudan.
Before the conflict began in South Sudan, the children of the country suffered from some of the worst indicators facing any children, and the ongoing violence has made things even worse. We see that more than four million children are now in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. We know that about 3.5 million South Sudanese have been displaced by the fighting and that more than 1.6 million of those have fled to other countries. That's more than 10% of the population.
In February, famine was officially declared in parts of Unity state in South Sudan. This is the first time in six years that a famine has been declared anywhere in the world, and only the second time in the last more than 30 years. The main reason for this famine has to do with the economic crisis that's been brought about by this horrific conflict that goes on. What we are fearful about is that by May to July of this year we may find almost half of the population at risk and suffering from food insecurity. Right now, we have almost a million children in the country who are estimated to be acutely malnourished.
I want to show you something that defines better than any numbers, I think, what “acutely malnourished” means. What I have here with me is a MUAC bracelet—a mid-upper arm circumference bracelet—which you put around a child's arm at their biceps. You pull on it, and when you get to the yellow part, that's acute malnutrition. The circle of the bracelet is about the size of a toonie, and for a child between the ages of six months and five years, that's how big the arm is of a child who has acute malnutrition. That's what we're seeing countless times in South Sudan today.
Because of this, UNICEF has been conducting massive relief operations. Along with the World Food Programme, we undertake rapid response mechanisms that get food, supplies, and vaccinations into the areas that are hard to reach. We often have to go in by helicopter because it's impossible to get access by ground.
In this atmosphere of escalating violence, we see the needs getting greater of the children and the families who are caught in the violence. Aid workers—our colleagues and those of other agencies—are continuing to face multiple obstacles to the delivery of their humanitarian assistance. That's not only due to the conflict itself. We're having access denied and we're facing bureaucratic impediments. Even our aid workers themselves have to be relocated because of the insecurity of escalating tensions or the directives that we get from authorities.
Despite this, we're doing everything we can, but because of this, we are calling on all parties to the conflict to end violations against aid workers. Also, they must end violations against children. All parties must adhere to international human rights and humanitarian law and ensure that civilians, particularly children, are protected from harm.
We're seeing that the child protection networks are under strain. We're seeing girls and women who are highly vulnerable to sexual violence and rape, and it's being perpetrated by all parties to the conflict. We've also seen that schools and hospitals have come under attack, and by all parties to the conflict. Both state and non-state armed actors are responsible for these grave violations.
We are doing what we can in this to try to reunite families. We have family tracing and reunification for unaccompanied and separated children. We also provide them with psychosocial support.
We also know that more than 17,000 children remain associated with armed groups. We are working with the warring parties to prevent the recruitment of children into these armed groups, and despite commitments by both the government and opposition forces to end and prevent the use of children in the conflict, the number of children who are involved in the conflict continues to rise.
At UNICEF, we've been able to help more than 19,000 children be released from these armed groups, and they're in the process of being reintegrated into society. We are providing those children with livelihoods and education opportunities to help them reintegrate back into their communities, but many of those children have missed years of school. Many of them have suffered physical, emotional, social, and psychological abuse. Returning them to their communities and to their families is difficult, and it is the main priority.
Another human rights issue of great concern to us is that of gender-based violence. Gender-based violence has been greatly intensified by the current crisis, and is being perpetrated by all parties to the conflict. To prevent gender-based violence and support survivors, UNICEF works to train doctors, health workers, and social workers so that they can respond to the needs of survivors.
In the states of Central Equatoria and Unity, we've reached close to 19,000 women, girls, boys, and men with gender-based violence response and prevention messages, referrals, and response services. In Juba, in collaboration with humanitarian partners, we have been working to train humanitarian workers in gender-based violence risk mitigation, and to improve security for women and girls inside and outside of the IDP camps.
In other parts of the country, including Bor and Jonglei, UNICEF is supporting gender violence reduction through community engagement, by training groups of community decision-makers, both men and women, to address harmful social norms and to promote positive change.
This conflict, right now, makes South Sudan the worst place in the world to be a child. Both the humanitarian and the human rights situations are horrific, and we at UNICEF are doing everything we can to try to provide some relief to the suffering for those children and families.
Thank you for the part that Canada is playing to try to make positive change in this desperate country.