UN official urges access to displaced people in South Sudan

September 4, 2022 (JUBA) – A United Nations humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan has called for unhindered humanitarian access to enable persons displaced by conflicts in areas between Malakal and Tonga of South Sudan’s Upper Nile State get assistance.

Sara Beysolow Nyanti said thousands of people have been displaced across many areas of Upper Nile, Jonglei, and Unity states since mid-August following heavy fighting between armed factions in Tonga town and neighboring areas in Panyikang County.

“Deliveries of humanitarian supplies with barge movements are impacted by insecurity. Various entities moving along the supply routes are faced with illegal taxation at checkpoints,” she said in a statement issued in Juba on Friday last week.

The UN relief official said she conducted a mission to Adidyang and Malakal early last week to see for herself the impact of the violent clashes that have triggered large-scale displacement and exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation in Upper Nile.

She said humanitarians are working across sectors to provide the much-needed support planned for some 18,000 to 21,000 vulnerable people in the next two months with shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene, protection, health, food, and nutrition services.

“The situation is very dynamic. Some people are moving from location to location with little to nothing, and with no food,” stressed Nyanti.

The official said that humanitarian partners have swiftly mobilised available resources and provided life-saving assistance to meet urgent needs of the displaced.

“Despite these efforts, the response remains constrained due to limited funding, access impediments, and insecurity,” she noted.

(ST)