3 March 2014 - With fresh outbreaks of fighting in South Sudan likely to displace tens of thousands of additional people, the emergency in the world’s newest nation risks becoming overwhelming, UNICEF said today.

“We are working to stave off disaster,” Ted Chaiban, UNICEF’s Director of Emergency Programmes, said in a statement. “People are continuing to flee their homes in the face of fierce fighting and terrible violence. South Sudan’s dream risks becoming a nightmare for the country's children.”

Nearly 900,000 people in the country – half of them children – have already been forced from their homes.

Despite the signing of an agreement to cease hostilities at the end of January, fighting between government and opposition forces has increased in recent weeks.

Following heavy clashes and reports of people being killed in churches and hospitals in the northern town of Malakal in February, fighting has spread further north in Upper Nile state. There are now fears that 30,000 or more civilians may be freshly displaced, the statement said.

“Already there are hundreds of thousands of women, children and men with limited access to safe drinking water, sanitation, nutrition and shelter,” Mr. Chaiban said. “Under such conditions, children are especially vulnerable to disease outbreaks and severe food insecurity.”

Continued violence in South Sudan has massively disrupted livelihoods, with families and livestock displaced, households looted and markets destroyed, according to the statement. Regular aid has been interrupted, putting more than 3.7 million people at risk of severe food insecurity as well as disease outbreaks and acute malnutrition.

There are widespread reports of grave violations of humanitarian law, with the effects of the conflict on children particularly devastating. Over the past two months, girls and boys have been killed, maimed, raped, orphaned, recruited into armed groups, and made homeless.

"UNICEF staff have personally witnessed the aftermath of atrocities," said Mr. Chaiban. “There can be no excuse or justification for this violence.”

UNICEF is taking advantage of periods of relative stability to reach the displaced in different parts of the country with fresh water and sanitation as well as health and nutrition services.

Along with partners, it is tracing children who have become separated from their families and providing psychosocial support where possible. UNICEF is also making provisions in areas where there are large groups of displaced families for basic education facilities, a vital step for children whose lives have been so traumatically disrupted.

The agency has appealed for $75million to meet the needs of South Sudan’s displaced during the first six months of 2014, with an urgent response needed so that supplies can be pre-positioned ahead of the rainy season, which will make many roads in the country impassable.