US pledging $300M in aid to South Sudan

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is pledging nearly $300 million in assistance to address urgent humanitarian needs resulting from the crisis in South Sudan.

Some of the money will come from the U.S. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund and will be used to support the United Nations and other refugee organizations. The White House says the UN and its partners are urgently assisting the more than 300,000 refugees that have crossed into Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, as well as internally-displaced persons in South Sudan.

Obama authorized the emergency funding ahead of a South Sudan pledging conference scheduled for Tuesday in Oslo, Norway.

The U.S. says months of conflict between South Sudan’s government and rebel forces have left the country at risk of famine unless humanitarian agencies increase their assistance.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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