South Sudan: ‘Silent Emergency’ in South Sudan as Protracted Conflict Displaces Millions of Cattle – UN

Dec 31, 2014 | United Nations
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As South Sudan’s livestock owners flee the country’s conflict, a “silent emergency” has emerged threatening the very fabric of society and further undermining social stability, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today as it announced a scale-up in its livestock interventions in the embattled nation.

The ongoing fighting has caused the displacement of millions of animals, leading to fresh outbreaks of disease and rising tensions between pastoral groups and farmers, as well as within different pastoralist communities.

“From the earliest days of the crisis, FAO has done its utmost to draw attention to the silent emergency that these unusual livestock migrations represent,” Sue Lautze, FAO Representative to South Sudan said in a statement to the press.