South Sudan receives emergency food aid to avert famine – in pictures

More than 40 tons of emergency food supplies and seed – enough to feed 1,100 families – have been delivered to Leer, northern South Sudan, by the International Committee of the Red Cross. These airdrops, the first by the ICRC for nearly two decades, are an effort to reach hundreds of thousands of people afflicted by conflict, disease and impending famine in the world's youngest country, which celebrates its third independence on Wednesday. Photographs by Nichole Sobecki for AFP/Getty

theguardian.com, Tuesday 8 July 2014 21.00 EDT

Women look at an International Red Cross dropping emergency food supplies in Leer, South Sudan, — An International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plane prepares to airdrop emergency food supplies in Leer county, northern South Sudan

Thousands of people wait in the hot sun near the air drop zone in Leer, South Sudan, on 5 July 2014 — Thousands of people brave the searing heat to wait for the delivery of supplies. An estimated 4 million people are likely to face critical food shortages next month, according to the Disaster Emergency Committee, a coalition of 13 leading UK charities

Thousands of people wait in the hot sun near the air drop zone in Leer, South Sudan, on 5 July 2014 — More than a million people have fled their homes since fighting erupted between opposing factions of the country's ruling party in December

An International Red Cross plane drops emergency food supplies near the airdrop zone in Leer, South Sudan, on 5 July 2014 — Sacks of food plunge to the ground from the tail of a Hercules. Volunteers, staff and members of the local community will collect the bags and deliver them to distribution points

A porter races into the drop zone after an International Red Cross plane delivered food in Leer, South Sudan, on 5 July 2014 — A porter races to the drop zone to collect sacks of food aid

An International Red Cross member prepares to organise the food distribution — An ICRC member prepares the food for distribution. The sacks contain sorghum, beans, salt, sugar and seeds

Red Cross staff and volunteers begin opening the sacks of food — Until the recent ceasefire, many people were hiding in the bush living on roots and wild fruit

Families set off for home with sacks of food and seeds — Families head home with sacks of food they hope will last for two weeks

Children run to the drop zone to gather any food or seeds spilled during the airdrop — Children grab their containers and run to the drop zone to gather any food or seeds spilled during the airdrop. More than half a million children have been displaced by conflict

Martha Nyarueni, right, and her family return to their home outside the town of Leer with sacks of aid — Martha Nyarueni, right, and her family return to their home outside the Leer with sacks of aid.

Martha Nyarueni and her family stand outside their home outside the town of Leer — In January, Nyarueni fled with her husband and five children into the bush, where they lived for months before returning home in May to find the building burned and food stores looted

A sick woman on a stretcher waits for medical attention outside the hospital in the town of Leer — A sick woman on a stretcher waits for medical attention outside a hospital in Leer. Hundreds of thousands of people were cut off from medical care after the hospital, run by Medécins Sans Frontières, was ransacked and destroyed at the beginning of the year

Families with malnourished children wait to receive treatment at the hospital in Leer — Families with malnourished children wait to receive medical treatment. When MSF returned to Leer in mid-May, the hospital had admitted more than 800 malnourished children in the first day

A mother tends to her malnourished child in the hospital in Leer — A mother tends to her malnourished child. Unicef estimates that 50,000 children could die from malnutrition by March 2015

Women and their children wait to receive treatment on the sandy floor at the hospital in Leer — People walk many miles to the hospital to get treatment. Queues for medical attention can be lengthy

Hot topics

© 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

;