$600 million for S. Sudan

International donors from some 40 countries and 50 organizations meeting in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday pledged more than $600 million (438.4 million euros) to pay for food and health care in South Sudan in the coming year.

The sum almost doubles the $536 million that have already been pledged by the international community, but falls far short of the $1.8 billion that the United Nations says the country needs.

Promising an additional 6 million euros ($8.2 million dollars) in aid, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier appealed in Berlin to parties in South Sudan's current armed conflict to "put down their weapons and protect the assistance from the international community."

Germany has now set aside altogether 12.5 million euros in humanitarian assistance to the people of South Sudan, in addition to a further 1.7 million euros for South Sudanese refugees in the neighboring countries of Uganda and Ethiopia.

According to Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, the main donors to South Sudan are the United States, Britain and the European Union, which provided 75 percent of the funds.

Growing danger of famine

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that some 4.9 million people in South Sudan require humanitarian assistance as the country remains mired in a months-long armed conflict between political leaders.

That number is expected to rise, as the fighting and insecurity has hindered the planting of crops, raising the risk of famine. Oil production in the country has also been curbed

Thousands of people have been killed and 1.2 million forced to flee their homes since the fighting began in mid-December between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and supporters of his former deputy, Riek Machar.

South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011, making it the world's youngest nation.

tj/dr (AFP, Reuters, dpa)