Aid operations suspended amidst renewed violence

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) no longer provide humanitarian assistance in parts of Unity State, only weeks after the agencies started operating again in the areas.

IRC South Sudan Country Director Donald-Paul Veilleux warns communities in Leer and Koch counties – where the services have been suspended – are exhausted and at high risk. “Because of the ongoing fighting we will not be able to get accesses to those areas,” Veilleux says.

The renewed fighting endangers a peace agreement signed by the conflicting parties in August. Both parties trade blames accusing the other party to violate the deal.

In September, weeks after the peace agreement was signed, aid agencies including the World Food Program and UNICEF had started accessing the cut-off areas again. In May, when fighting between government and rebel forces intensified, assistance came to a standstill.

Veilleux says right now the most immediate needs, of at least 250,000 people, are food, shelter and health. “The infrastructure has been severely burnt down and the usual services are not available. For example the health clinics, water, the boreholes – some have been destroyed. The basic infrastructure needs to be revamped and rehabilitated.”

The NGO Forum says a recent report covering the period between April and September 2015, estimates that at least 1,000 civilians were killed, 1,300 women and girls were raped, and 1,600 women and children were abducted in Leer, Mayendit and Koch counties.

The South Sudan NGO Forum has also expressed concerns regarding the deteriorating humanitarian situation across South Sudan amidst renewed violence. “The situation for civilians is desperate and getting worse as fighting persists. The parties to the conflict must immediately adhere to their commitment in the peace agreement as well as their obligations under international humanitarian law in respect to the protection of civilians,” a statement of the forum reads.

A survey by the NGO Forum conducted in June this year found out that the estimated value of humanitarian goods and assets looted or lost due to violent conflict across the country between January and June 2015 was worth US$ 3.6 million. During the same period, NGOs estimate they lost 1,560 working hours due to the suspension of humanitarian activities as a result of hostilities.

Aid agencies call upon the international community to exert more influence on the warring parties to ensure that the peace agreement is fully implemented and that aid agencies have full and unfettered access to all those in need. “It’s not only that the fighting needs to stop, it is that the groups there have to agree to our presence in those areas,” Veilleux urges.

A power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his former Vice President Riek Machar turned violent in late 2013. Thousands have been killed and over two million others have been displaced. The conflict worsened the already dire humanitarian situation across South Sudan – following widespread floods in 2013.