I think we confer much on the political support that a country like Canada can offer to be a broker between the different parties and with the Government of South Sudan in assisting the United Nations and our NGO partners to have full, unimpeded, and safe access to all areas in the country. I think, again, this is really a political discussion, not one that is necessarily only from a humanitarian point of view. We can refer to the responsibility to protect. We can refer to all international norms and humanitarian law. That's not going to help. We really need people like the Government of Canada, who can come with the pressure of their assembly, their parliament, to say that those deaths are completely avoidable. What is happening now is that the massive displacement, the conflict, and the fact that the land has been destroyed—you cannot harvest the land anymore—mean that famine is going to be the number one risk coming up for almost 50% of the population.
That is something on which I believe a country like Canada is well placed to give some strong political messages to the South Sudanese government and the parties to the conflict. We also have to think of the funding, because with 12% or 13% of the funding, it means that you cannot hire a truck to truck the clean water. We simply cannot have a long-term vision to say we are going to hire this company for the next six months to be able to deliver water. We have to do it almost month by month. I'm sure that my colleagues are signing contracts with service providers every other minute, which delays the service on the ground for the people. Of course, if you have a long-term view, perhaps you can make a better deal in terms of the services, but also you can really ensure continuity in the services. I think the funding is part of the political aspect and the funding goes hand in hand.
Ultimately, we also have to make sure to remember that it's not only a famine issue, but it's also a protection issue, and for that, we need to be able to provide services inside and outside in terms of family reunification. When people flee conflict, especially in South Sudan, the family gets divided. Then we have the responsibility, usually with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the national committee, to do family tracing and reunification by identifying where the parent is. This is absolutely key, because if we have separated children, you do understand that the cost of us keeping them alive is far greater than the cost of having them reunited with their family. We need to really look at the two dimensions: the famine and the protection needs.
My colleagues on the ground are telling me that when people arrive in Uganda, the stories about the violations are quite horrible.