The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved an emergency assistance relief package of $440,000 to fund ongoing humanitarian and emergency relief efforts in areas hit by floods in South Sudan and Sudan. Benedict Kanu, AfDB Country Manager for South Sudan, said more than 100 people died through the disaster in the country, with about 25,000 internally displaced. The situation is particularly critical given the Covid-19 preventive measures in place, insecurity in some of the affected states and the financial constraints faced by the government and humanitarian agencies, despite the growing needs of the flood-affected communities, Kanu said in a statement on Sunday. The package, from the Banks Special Relief Fund, will be split nearly equally between the two countries and will be used to purchase food items and water, and to cover the implementation costs to be incurred by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The funding is part of a multinational emergency response to provide relief to flood victims in both countries, where torrential rains have caused rivers to overflow their dykes and banks, disrupting trade routes, damaging crops, killing livestock and submerging houses. In South Sudan, the UN has estimated that more than 80 million dollars is needed for the overall flood response, including $46 million for immediate assistance to 360,000 people until the end of the year. Heavy rains and flooding have affected more than 860,000 people (over 480,000 of them children) in Sudan by the end of September, according to the UN.
