29 April 2014 - With seven million people in South Sudan at risk of food insecurity, the top humanitarian official in the country today called for a one-month truce to allow civilians to cultivate their fields.

“I call on all parties to the conflict in South Sudan to observe one month of tranquility this May to stop the violence and to provide a safe environment for civilians caught by the conflict at this most crucial time of the year,” said UN Humanitarian Coordinator Toby Lanzer in a statement.

“The citizens of South Sudan have a right to move around their country whether to tend to their livestock or for other reasons, or even to seek asylum in neighbouring countries if they so wish. The conflict currently compromises their ability to do so,” he said.

Mr. Lanzer said that 30 days of tranquility in May “is a tangible step that will have an immediate impact on the lives of millions of people.”

“The only way to reverse this crisis and its grave humanitarian consequences is to find a political resolution to the conflict,” he noted, however.

An estimated 923,000 South Sudanese are displaced within the country, while more than 293,000 people have become refugees in neighbouring countries since the crisis began in mid-December 2013. Some 4.9 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, aid agencies say.

Ahead of the rainy season, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) was planning to airlift such relief for 100,000 displaced people, mainly in Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei states, a spokesperson said in Geneva today.

“Once the rainy season begins in earnest next month, roads in these areas will become impassable for weeks,” said UNHCR spokesperson Fatoumata Lejeune.

She noted that blankets, sleeping mats, water buckets and other relief items were being transported from Dubai to Juba, for onward distribution in the three states which have been most affected by conflict in the country.

The operation is part of a wider effort by the agency to supply essential relief for many of the more than one million people displaced by the fighting in South Sudan over the last four months.