South Sudan is again the world's most fragile state, according to a
ranking published by U.S. research organization, the Fund for Peace (FFP).
It is the second year in a row South Sudan has been ranked as the most fragile state on the planet.
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| Child soldiers (seen above) are fighting on both sides of South Sudan's civil war |
Somalia, the Central African Republic, Sudan and the Democratic
Republic of Congo are in the next four places.
Twelve indicators, including the number of refugees and internally
displaced people, and factionalization, which is the extent of a country’s dependence
on external aid to fulfill its functions as a state, are used to determine
a country's ranking, said Nate Haken, the director of the FFP's Conflict Early
Warning and Assessment program, which produces the index.
"The food crisis (in South Sudan) was very significant, as well
as the political factionalization, the displacement and violence," Haken
said.
More than 2 million South Sudanese have fled their homes since
fighting erupted in December 2013.
The United Nations says it expects the number of people facing severe
food insecurity in South Sudan to rise to 4.6 million in the coming weeks,
compared to 2.5 million at the start of the year, because of the unrest.