Government told to protect aid workers, persons in need

JUBA – The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Alain Noudéhou, has called for justice after an aid worker was killed by armed youth in the country’s Greater Pibor Administrative Area, just one day after another humanitarian worker lost his life while providing assistance to vulnerable people in Jonglei and Greater Pibor.

These two humanitarian workers killed in the past week were South Sudanese and were delivering critical nutrition services to vulnerable people affected by local conflicts and flooding.

Noudéhou called for end to impunity and urged the government to protect aid workers and those in need.

“The violence and the impunity must stop. We need the safety and security of the people receiving and delivering aid.” He said.

“I am appalled by these repeated acts of violence against humanitarians. South Sudanese aid workers are enduring difficult conditions to deliver lifesaving assistance to their fellow citizens and should be protected,” he said.

On 30 October, a community mobilizer working for Nile Hope, a South Sudanese non-governmental the organization, in Canal/Pigi County in Jonglei state was shot dead by unidentified armed youth.

He was on his way from the organization’s base to a facility providing supplementary feeding and outpatient therapeutic care to malnourished children and new mothers.

His colleague escaped with minor injuries. All humanitarian services have been temporarily suspended in the area following the shooting.

The incident brings the number of humanitarians workers killed this year in South Sudan to nine – this is three times the total number of humanitarians who lost their lives in the country in 2019.

A total of 124 aid workers, mostly South Sudanese, have lost their lives in the line of duty since the conflict broke out in late 2013.