South Sudan and the aid agencies launched a three-year humanitarian appeal on Thursday, seeking 1.1 billion U.S. dollars to meet the needs of over 3 million people, said a UN spokesperson.

The appeal for 2014-2016, launched in South Sudan capital Juba, is aimed to "help communities affected by hostilities, displacement, natural disasters and poverty in the country", said the spokesman Fahran Haq at a regular briefing at the UN headquarters in New York.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the appeal also seeks to building community resilience and strengthening national capacity to deliver basic services.

South Sudan, which became an independent country in July 2011, is one of the world's poorest countries. Tribal conflicts, lack of economic resources, inter-ethnic disputes, and the slow pace of development and rehabilitation of infrastructures constitute major difficulties facing South Sudan. Endi

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