US donates relief items to displaced South Sudanese

February 6, 2014 (JUBA) – The United States government this week airlifted 67 tons of life-saving relief supplies to be distributed to thousands of South Sudanese affected by weeks of violence.

The items, which included heavy-duty plastic sheeting and hygiene kits, were transported from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi to South Sudan. Up to 10,000 and 4,500 families are to benefit from the plastic sheets and kits respectively.

“The supplies will be further distributed to towns and areas where they’re needed most by USAID [US Agency for International Development] partner World Vision International,” partly reads a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

Violence erupted in the South Sudan capital in mid-December last year after a dispute among the presidential guards, but later spread to three of the country’s 10 states killing thousands and displacing nearly a million people.

The US and the international community widely condemned the violence widely believed to have been caused by difference within South Sudan’s ruling party (SPLM).

“Our work here is people-centered; we are continuously dedicated to improving the humanitarian situation here in South Sudan,” said Susan Page, the US envoy to Juba.

The provision of these emergency supplies comes weeks after the U.S. government announced an additional $50 million in humanitarian assistance to help provide safe drinking water, emergency health care, vaccinations, improved sanitation, and shelter to those displaced by the violence.

Over the past two years, however, the U.S. government has reportedly provided nearly $320 million in humanitarian funding to the world’s youngest nation.

(ST).