Continued conflict in South Sudan risks depriving the country of a generation of "lost" children, warned United Nations humanitarian chief Valerie Amos during a press conference in Juba, the capital of the strife-torn nation.
Valerie Amos, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, added that continued economic stagnation would hold back development and prevent support for essential sectors like health and education, according to the UN News Centre.
She made her comments at the end of a three-day tour of South Sudan with UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)'s Special Envoy Forest Whitaker, during which the two saw the impact of the crisis on people caught in the middle of fighting.
"People need peace, stability and security," she said in a plea to those engaged in the conflict. "It is heartrending to see the suffering of the people."
Stressing the fact the 2.5 million people urgently need help with food, she described the tour she took with Mr. Whitaker, Academy Award-winning actor and Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation, the UN News Centre reported.