UN hails Sudan’s efforts to mitigate South Sudan’s humanitarian crisis
May 28, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Secretary-general of the United Nations, António Guterres has praised Sudan’s role in mitigating the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, said Sudan’s foreign ministry.
In a press release extended to Sudan Tribune Sunday, foreign ministry spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir said foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour received a message from Guterres in which he pledged to attract addition funds to enable Sudan to cope with the large influx of South Sudan’s refugees.
He pointed that Guterres expressed appreciation for Sudan’s government efforts to provide assistance for those affected by the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan and mobilising support from relevant national actors.
The UN secretary general thanked Sudan for opening three humanitarian corridors to transport relief to South Sudan.
According to Khidir, Guterres stressed that he is “counting heavily on the Sudanese government to support regional and international efforts to pressure the conflicting parties in South Sudan to stop the fighting”.
Three United Nations agencies declared an outbreak of famine in the young nation in February, saying an additional 1 million people were are the brink of starvation.
On 30 June, the World Food Programme (WFP) began providing food assistance to South Sudan using a new corridor opened by Sudan.
According to the latest report released by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), Sudan’s has received over 417,000 South Sudanese refugees since December 2013.
South Sudan became the world’s newest nation after declaring independence from Sudan in 2011. However, in 2013 the country was plunged into civil war killing tens of thousands of people and displacing millions.
(ST)