“Our humanitarian partners estimate that in the coming weeks and months, somewhere in the region of around 222,000 children could die from malnutrition,” Wosornu said.
A civil war erupted two years after the country won independence from Sudan, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths between 2013 and 2018.
Since then, a tenuous peace has held between the main belligerents, but clashes continue among a patchwork of armed groups.
Some activists suggest that the recent increase in killings partly links to the upcoming vote, which will determine the leaders to succeed the current transitional government.
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Rival groups killed more than 150 people in late January and early February in northern and western South Sudan.
On Tuesday, the United States, Britain, and Norway called on South Sudan’s leaders to take urgent steps to ensure a genuine and peaceful election.
Reuters