WFP suspends operations in two Upper Nile counties

23 Apr 2015

WFP suspends operations in two Upper Nile counties

22 April 2014 - The World Food Programme (WFP) is re-assessing its ability to work in some parts of Upper Nile State because of increasing concerns about staff safety, the UN agency said in a press statement today.

“We regret that we must temporarily suspend food assistance in Akoka and Fashoda counties,” said WFP Deputy Country Director Eddie Rowe, in Juba. “We hope to resume as soon as we have the necessary assurances that our staff and partners can work safely."

The development follows the disappearance of three WFP staff members on April 1, while they were en route to a food distribution. The staff members were traveling in a convoy from Malakal to Melut, carrying food intended for thousands of conflict-affected people, when witnesses say inter-communal fighting erupted along the road on which they were traveling

“WFP lost contact with the three men and has not heard from them since, despite intense efforts to reach them,” the statement said, adding that the agency has been working with authorities in Juba, Malakal and Akoka to seek information about their whereabouts to no avail.

“We are extremely worried about the fate of our missing colleagues and are working hard for their safe return,” said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin. “Our staff take enormous risks every day to bring vital aid to people in critical need.”

The disappearance comes amid generally deteriorating security and increasing harassment of humanitarian workers throughout the country.

Since the start of South Sudan’s conflict more than 16 months ago, 10 humanitarian workers have been killed in Upper Nile State, the statement said. Another WFP staff member, Mark Diang, was abducted at gunpoint in October 2014 from the airport in the Upper Nile State capital Malakal and hasn’t been heard from since.

“We are equally concerned about the welfare of innocent people, particularly women and children, who are suffering the consequences of this conflict,” said Ms. Cousin. “We are committed to assisting the South Sudanese people the best we can, but we cannot do our lifesaving work unless national and local authorities are willing and able to safeguard humanitarian staff.”

The statement noted that WFP fears that worsening insecurity in some parts of South Sudan will make it harder for humanitarian agencies to reach conflict-affected communities with badly needed assistance, just as the lean season is set to begin.

In another statement, UNMISS today expressed grave concerns about fighting in Malakal that broke out in the evening of Tuesday, 21 April and continued into the early afternoon of today, although the precise causes of the violence remained unclear.

UNMISS had started receiving internally displaced persons (IDPs) seeking protection from the violence, with at least 1,500 unarmed civilians joining the existing IDP population of over 26,000 who are being sheltered by the Mission, the statement revealed.

“It is highly regrettable that fighting has flared anew in Malakal at a time when the situation appeared so promising; with the hope that people would soon be able to return home and life would be restored to the city. Once again the lives of innocent civilians are being affected by the cycle of violence in this part of South Sudan,” said UNMISS Chief Ellen Loej.

She called on military commanders in charge of the belligerent forces to order an immediate halt to the fighting and open a dialogue to resolve the causes of the violence.