14 February 2014 - The United Nations has raised its humanitarian response level in South Sudan to three, representing the highest level of emergency.

The emergency response level was announced by UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos after a briefing to the UN Security Council on her recent visit to South Sudan.

The new level will allow international humanitarian agencies to obtain more staff and use more flexible procedures to get urgently needed humanitarian assistance to civilians in most need.

According to the latest UN figures, up to 3.7 million South Sudanese are facing acute or emergency levels of food insecurity.