Inside a sandy compound of grass-roofed shelters, southern Sudanese women line up to receive the first of their two daily meals -a stodgy, soya-based mix provided by an international aid agency.

Some are cradling emaciated, runny-nosed babies; all are barefoot and dressed in tattered clothes that barely cover their sinewy bodies. More infants, their eyes brighter, play with blown-up surgical gloves and empty tins in the dusty grounds of the feeding centre.