South Sudan needs $1.7 billion in aid next year to help six million people - half of its population - cope with the effects of war, hunger and economic decline, the government and the United Nations announced on Wednesday. South Sudan slid into civil war in late 2013, two years after gaining independence from Sudan. A third of the country’s 12 million people has fled their homes. Alain Noudehou, the UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, said humanitarian assistance was needed for people suffering the effects of displacement, food insecurity, malnutrition, violence and economic decline, Reuters reports.