A/HRC/40/CRP.1 area in Wau told the Commission: “I have some family here in Wau and they help me and my grandchildren. […] But there is no food here in this camp, nothing.” 202 Food insecurity is rendered even more acute because of the logistical challenges faced by humanitarian organisations in delivering aid and the denial of access to humanitarian organisations trying to provide assistance (see next section). Food insecurity has a particularly serious effect on South Sudan’s most vulnerable. Of the 6.1 million who were facing Crisis (Phase 3) or worse food insecurity between July and August 2018, an estimated 21 percent were children under the age of five, seven percent were elderly and seven percent were lactating mothers. 203 Furthermore, food shortages have a particularly gendered effect. Many women have told the Commission of venturing back to villages after an attack or out of the PoC sites in search of food, water, and firewood and getting caught by soldiers and other armed men and raped or assaulted.204 While men also venture out in search of food, it is usually the women who go out as there is a general perception that men are more likely to get killed. Food scarcity also affects the gender constructs in household and social relationships as women in households tend to prioritize feeding children and men over eating themselves thereby exacerbating their own malnutrition. One study found that women and girls were slightly more likely than men and boys to get less food as a coping mechanism. 205 Women also report suffering from depression as a result of being unable to care for their children and assure their health. The stresses of food insecurity also fuel conflicts within the household, triggering domestic violence. 206 Furthermore, food insecurity puts women at risk of turning to transactional sex in exchange for food or money, 207 which has the additional effect of increasing their risk of being exposed to sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/Aids. Early marriage has likewise increased in South Sudan during the conflict, not only because families seek protection for girls, but also for economic reasons as girls’ families receive a bride price and go to live with the husband’s family. 208 2. Denial of Humanitarian Access Despite the obligation in the December 2017 CoHA requiring parties to facilitate unfettered access for humanitarian assistance and to guarantee the safety and security of all humanitarian personnel,209 and the reiteration of these commitments in the R-ARCSS,210 in 2018, 760 humanitarian access incidents were reported to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).211 In the Commission’s view, humanitarian aid has continued to be a political tool in South Sudan, used by all parties to the conflict. Strategies adopted by groups include the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian access to communities perceived to support the opposing party, the redirection of aid towards themselves or their own preferred communities, and denial of access to areas were hostilities are occurring to avoid having witnesses.212 202 Witness 876, ERN 101572-101576, para. 13. Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, “The Republic of South Sudan, Key IPC findings: September 2018- March 2019”. 204 See e.g. Witness 276, ERN 100625-100636. 205 Plan International, “Adolescent Girls in Crisis: Voices from South Sudan”, 2018. 206 Catherine Huser, “Conflict and Gender Study – South Sudan: Addressing Root Causes Programme”, Agency for Co-Operation and Research in Development, January 2018; Search for Common Ground, “Nimule Conflict and Leadership Mapping Report, Together We Can: Supporting Local Peace Efforts in Nimule”, November 2016. 207 Global Women’s Institute of the George Washington University, “No Safe Place: A Lifetime of Violence for Conflict Affected Women and Girls in South Sudan, Main Results Report”, 2017. 208 Plan International, “Adolescent Girls in Crisis: Voices from South Sudan”, 2018. 209 Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities, Protection of Civilians and Humanitarian Access, 21 December 2017, Article 8. 210 R-ARCSS, Article 2.1.2. 211 OCHA, South Sudan: Humanitarian Access Review (January – June 2018), 15 August 2018; OCHA, South Sudan: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (July 2018), 13 August 2018; OCHA, South Sudan: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (August 2018), 12 September 2018; OCHA, South Sudan: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (September 2018), 10 October 2018; OCHA, South Sudan: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (October 2018), 13 November 2018; OCHA, South Sudan: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (November 2018), 7 December 2018; OCHA, South Sudan: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (December 2018), 9 January 2019. 212 See e.g. Witness 597, ERN 101182-101186, para. 9. 203 33