Interview: Red Cross supports resilience-building of communities in conflict-prone areas of South Sudan, says delegation chief

(Image Credit | africanews.com)

JUBA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) supports resilience-building efforts to help mitigate rampant violence among communities living in conflict-prone areas of South Sudan, said the head of the organization's delegation in South Sudan.

Pierre Dorbes, head of ICRC Delegation in South Sudan, said the organization supports vulnerable communities in building coping mechanisms amid recurring violence in Upper Nile, Jonglei State, and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) with farming tools, fishing kits, and provision of primary health care services.

"We are present not just for emergency response, but also to accompany the communities on the longer-term resilience building. We help communities in farming, providing season tools or fishing kits when they have access to a river, and supporting their primary health care," Dorbes told Xinhua in a recent interview in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

South Sudan is experiencing climatic shocks that largely contribute to rampant inter-communal violence. Therefore, the ICRC is emphasizing the need for climate adaptation support to build community resilience, he said.

The recurrence of violence and conflict has been one of the dominant drivers of widespread food shortage in the country, making the population more vulnerable to the ongoing crisis, he added.

Across the country, the ICRC is also supporting 11 healthcare centers. Dorbes said that violence, which broke out in December 2022 in the GPAA and neighboring Jonglei till mid-January, has put a strain on their scarce resources due to the significant number of wounded people.

He said that there has been an unprecedented more than 120 weapon-wounded cases in a few days.

Dorbes pointed out challenges still exist in promptly reaching out to the wounded, specifically amid conflict and violence. At the moment, the main impediment is the need for infrastructure which makes it very difficult for them to deliver assistance close to the targeted communities, he noted. Enditem