24 December 2014 - Humanitarian aid for needy people living outside UNMISS protection areas in Unity State would be strengthened, an official from the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today in the capital Bentiu.

Noting that the livelihoods of many people in the state had been severely affected by conflict and flooding, OCHA Unity head Mohammed Siyryon added that such assistance would help them rebuild their lives.

“During this December, close to 2,000 people who came to Bentiu and Rubkona towns from surrounding localities received food and non-food items … for a month,” Mr. Siyryon said, adding that this quantity would likely increase in the next round of assistance.

He said periodical assessments would be conducted to determine the number of people in dire need of humanitarian support and the type of aid they needed.

Acting Unity Governor Wal Yack Gatkuoth said people were gradually coming back to Bentiu and Rubkona towns, indicating that the towns were returning to normal.

But humanitarian assistance must be beefed up in towns and vicinities until crops could be harvested, the acting governor said. He added that support for remote areas was still hindered by roads made inaccessible during the rainy season.