Nairobi, March 4 (IANS): Fresh fighting in South Sudan is hampering humanitarian efforts to help children as the emergency in the world's newest nation risks becoming overwhelming, the Unicef said Monday.

The UN children's fund said despite the signing of an agreement to cease hostilities at the end of January In Ethiopia, fighting between government and opposition forces has increased in recent weeks displacing thousands of people in the country, Xinhua reported.

"Already there are hundreds of thousands of women, children and men with limited access to safe drinking water, sanitation, nutrition and shelter," Ted Chaiban, Unicef's Director of Emergency Programmes said in a statement received in Nairobi.

"Under such conditions, children are especially vulnerable to disease outbreaks and severe food insecurity," Chaiban added.

Nearly 900,000 people -- half of them children -- have already been forced from their homes in South Sudan.

According to Unicef, there are now fears that 30,000 or more civilians may be freshly displaced.