South Kordofan forms 5 committees to meet needs of returnees
December 13, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) in South Kordofan has established five committees to coordinate efforts to meet the needs of growing numbers of returnees from rebel-held areas.
The Sudanese army has been fighting the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, also known as the Two Areas since 2011.
The HAC commissioner in South Kordofan Zahra Hassan Faris told the semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) they developed a tight plan to distribute the aid to the returnees.
She added five committees were set up to oversee the aid delivery including the high committee for the coordination of the humanitarian work, the emergency committee, information committee, distribution committee and the follow-up committee.
According to Faris, the five committees have held several meetings and submitted their reports on how to receive and distribute the assistance to the returnees.
Earlier this month, HAC in South Kordofan said the number of the returnees from the rebel-held areas has reached 9000 people which is estimated at about 1500 families.
It added the native administration took the initial measures to receive the returnees in preparation to integrate them into the community.
Talks between the Sudanese government and the SPLM-N for a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access are stalled since August 2016.
The SPLM-N demands to deliver 20% of the humanitarian assistance through a humanitarian corridor from Asosa, an Ethiopian border town.
But the government rejects the idea saying it is a breach of the state sovereignty and a manoeuvre from the rebels to bring arms and ammunition to their locked rebel-held areas in the Two Areas.
The SPLM-N, in November 2016 declined an American proposal to transport humanitarian medical assistance directly to the civilians in the rebel-held areas in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
(ST)