South Sudan hails contribution, resilience of local aid agencies

JUBA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan on Friday lauded the resilience and contribution of various local humanitarian organizations towards conflict mitigation and provision of life saving support to civilians displaced by conflicts in the world's youngest nation.

Manase Lomole, the chairperson of South Sudan Relief Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), said during an ongoing national NGO expo that unwavering commitment and hard work of local humanitarian workers enabled them to reach millions of displaced civilians residing in temporary shelter and mitigate their suffering.

The annual South Sudan NGO Forum National NGO Expo takes place from Thursday to Saturday in the capital city, Juba.

Lomole said the international relief agencies contributed immensely toward mitigating the humanitarian crisis which left seven million people vulnerable and staring at the risk of starvation.

"The notion that you have come here (South Sudan) to seek for money is not more than the risks you have taken to come here," said Lomole in Juba.

The conflict in South Sudan that erupted in December 2013 has claimed thousands of lives while creating one of the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

South Sudan has a total of 22,428 local humanitarian workers and an estimated 1,400 international NGO workers.

The 2018 Aid Worker Security Report disclosed that 158 major incidents of violence against 313 aid workers in 22 countries occurred last year, in which 139 people were killed with one-third of attacks occurring in South Sudan.

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that at least 98 aid workers were killed during the South Sudan conflict, mostly international aid workers.

Lomole said the NGO expo will motivate local humanitarian workers and help in post-conflict reconstruction in the wake of the South Sudan rival leaders signing the final revitalized peace agreement on September 12 in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

"The peace agreement that was signed by our leaders both in government and opposition is here to stay and nobody in his right mind wants to drag us back to war," said Lomole.

Lomole expressed optimism for creating conducive environment for humanitarians to work in former hotspots like Yei river state in the central region after the recent compromise on ceasefire and opening of humanitarian corridors between government troops and the main rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Army-in Opposition (SPLA-IO).

Andrea Noyes, deputy head of OCHA, said that local humanitarians are the backbone of emergency support in South Sudan despite operating in a challenging environment.