Sudan repeats vaccination campaign should be under its supervision
June 25, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The foreign ministry reiterated Monday its position that a Polio vaccination campaign for children in rebel held areas should be fully carried out under the supervision of the Sudanese government.
Since last April, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed to the warring parties in South Kordofan and Blue Nile to carry out a polio vaccination and Vitamin A distribution campaign for about 150,000 children under the age of five years.
Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) said this campaign should be conducted from outside Sudan and proposed Ethiopia and Kenya. The rebel group also refused to involve Sudanese aid workers saying they are infiltrated by the security service.
The foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday they officially reaffirmed to the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Mr. Ali Al-Za’tari, the position of the Sudanese government over this campaign.
Abu Bakr Siddiq Al-Amin, spokesperson of the ministry, on Monday said they renewed Sudan’s keenness t to vaccinate children and its commitment to reach an agreement with the UN agencies allowing to carry out this campaign.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry ,in its letter to the UN representative , stressed on the importance of taking into account, in any agreement in this respect, “Sudan’s sovereignty over its territory and the government’s responsibility for its citizens”, he said.
Al-Amin further said that UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, explained during her visit to Sudan last May that “the SPLM-N is hampering the implementation of the Trilateral Initiative to address the humanitarian situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile”.
Sudan and the SPLM-N failed last April in a meeting organised by the African Union mediation, to make any progress in the talks for a peaceful solution to the two year conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
They also continue to disagree on the humanitarian access to the civilians in the rebel held areas, as the rebels refuse the participation of the government’s humanitarian body in this operation and Khartoum, on the other hand, say they want to use this aid to feed their fighters.
(ST)