U.N. almost doubles appeal for South Sudan refugees

U.N. agencies almost doubled their 2017 appeal for South Sudan's refugees on Monday, saying they needed at least $1.4 billion to help alleviate "unimaginable" levels of suffering.

The U.N. refugee agency and the World Food Program had earlier asked for $781 million to support more than 1.8 million people fleeing fighting. But even that was only 14 percent funded, the agencies said in a joint statement.

"The suffering of the South Sudanese people is just unimaginable ... They are close to the abyss," WFP Executive Director David Beasley said.

(REUTERS)