Red Cross volunteers recieve training in Jonglei

November 15, 2012 (BOR) – The Jonglei branch of the South Sudan Red Cross has begun a six-day training for newly recruited volunteers on hygiene, sanitation and disaster management, the organisation’s director, David Gai told Sudan Tribune on Thursday in Bor.

The director said this, the fourth, batch of trained volunteers will be a vital resource to the South Sudan Red Cross (SSRC) once they have completed their training and been deployed to their communities.

South Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world, having seceded from Sudan last year after decades of civil war.

The young nation has some of the world’s worst development indicators with over half under its estimated 10 million population living under the poverty line and average life expectancy at 62, according to World Bank data.

Jonglei State has been the scene of serious fighting between rival ethnic groups over the past two years resulting in the death of nearly 2,000 people and affecting over 100,000.

(ST)