You'd think we would be proud to say that by the end of the year we will be providing shared communications services at 15 sites across South Sudan. But we're not proud of that at all.

Shared services at 15 sites means that the violence currently plaguing this young country has continued. Fifteen sites means that the figure of 1.5 million people displaced by conflict will have likely increased. Fifteen sites means that the situation of the estimated 3.5 million people who are at alarming risk of food insecurity and malnutrition, will have worsened. So no, we are not proud to say we will have 15 sites.

What we, as the humanitarian community, could be proud of is that we are here, and doing everything humanly possible to respond to this increasingly severe crisis, despite the mounting challenges. A challenge we've always faced in South Sudan is the remoteness of so many sites across the country. As the world's newest country, South Sudan is also one of the world's least developed, so reaching and operating in these isolated locations is a challenge unto itself.

The rainy season has always been a difficult time for humanitarian operations. Locations that are difficult to reach during the dry season become impossible to access when it rains, when torrential downpours render the roads rivers of sticky mud.  

And then the conflict started. At the end of 2013 conflict broke out in the capital, Juba, between government and opposition forces. Within weeks, the violence had spread to other parts of this massive country and thousands of people were displaced. When they escaped, they not only left their homes, but they also left behind their cattle, their crops, their livelihoods. So now, six months later, there are 3.5 million people at alarming risk of food insecurity.

The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) is currently providing shared communications services to the humanitarian community in nine common operating locations across South Sudan. One of these locations is Bentiu, the capital of Unity State, where 40,500 people are hosted in the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site. While humanitarian needs in Bentiu are obviously great, so too is the security risk, which means that only ‘critical' staff should be deployed there. Staff who deploy to conflict locations understand that the risks are very, very real.

A revised Crisis Response Plan was issued in June, requesting $1.8 billion to assist 3.8 million people by December. If the conflict continues the number of people in need will surely rise.

The situation here is grim, security is tense and the needs dire. My hat goes off to the humanitarians working in this operation. It is surely one of the most challenging we have ever faced.

By Mariko Hall, deployed as ETC Co-Coordinator, South Sudan

Cover photo: ETC Response Solution equipment, with technologies from emergency.lu and Ericsson Response, installed in Mingkaman, Jonglei state.