UN agency voices deep concern over continued ethnic violence in South Sudan
UN agency voices deep concern over continued ethnic violence in South Sudan
These orphaned children received food from WFP after a humanitarian mission arrived in the town of Pibor in South Sudan’s Jonglei state on 3 January 2012. Photo: WFP/Rehan Zahid
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) expressed deep concern today about the deadly ethnic violence in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, where thousands of people have had to flee their homes in recent days.
In a statement issued today, WFP said the violence between the Lou Nuer and Murle groups “has pushed the food security situation to crisis levels” in Jonglei, the largest state in South Sudan.
Thousands of Murle civilians, including many women and children, have sought refuge in forests and swamps to avoid attack from rival ethnic groups, and they have little or no access to food and clean drinking water.
This follows an attack last weekend against the town of Pibor by a 6,000-strong column of armed youths from the Lou Nuer tribe.
Lise Grande, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, said the exact number of casualties from the attack was unknown, but peacekeepers serving with the UN mission (UNMISS) had helped to rescue and evacuate civilians and deter further violence.
Ms. Grande told UN Radio today that a joint UN-Government humanitarian delegation that visited Pibor in the aftermath of the attack found the town to be intact but the humanitarian situation to be grim.
“We saw many people returning, and their condition was serious,” she said. “Families had been out in the bush for up to a week.”
WFP has started rushing in supplies to Pibor residents, with enough emergency rations to feed more than 1,000 people for two weeks.
The agency has also pre-positioned food in the town of Boma, where hundreds of displaced people have gathered and continue to arrive.
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About United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Fighting hunger worldwide
The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide.
“In emergencies, we get food to where it is needed, saving the lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After the cause of an emergency has passed, we use food to help communities rebuild their shattered lives.”
WFP is part of the United Nations system and is voluntarily funded.
Born in 1961, WFP pursues a vision of the world in which every man, woman and child has access at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life. We work towards that vision with our sister UN agencies in Rome — the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) — as well as other government, UN and NGO partners.
In 2011 we aim to reach more than 90 million people with food assistance in more than 70 countries. Around 10,000 people work for the organization, most of them in remote areas, directly serving the hungry poor.
WFP’s five objectives:
- Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies
- Prepare for emergencies
- Restore and rebuild lives after emergencies
- Reduce chronic hunger and undernutrition everywhere
- Strengthen the capacity of countries to reduce hunger
WFP’s Mission statement
WFP is the food aid arm of the United Nations system. Food aid is one of the many instruments that can help to promote food security, which is defined as access of all people at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life. ¹ The policies governing the use of World Food Programme food aid must be oriented towards the objective of eradicating hunger and poverty. The ultimate objective of food aid should be the elimination of the need for food aid.
Targeted interventions are needed to help to improve the lives of the poorest people – people who, either permanently or during crisis periods, are unable to produce enough food or do not have the resources to otherwise obtain the food that they and their households require for active and healthy lives.
Consistent with its mandate, which also reflects the principle of universality, WFP will continue to:
- use food aid to support economic and social development;
- meet refugee and other emergency food needs, and the associated logistics support; and
- promote world food security in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations and FAO.
The core policies and strategies that govern WFP activities are to provide food aid:
- to save lives in refugee and other emergency situations;
- to improve the nutrition and quality of life of the most vulnerable people at critical times in their lives; and
- to help build assets and promote the self-reliance of poor people and communities, particularly through labour-intensive works programmes.
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> United Nations (UN).
The United Nations was established on 24 October 1945 by 51 countries committed to preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Today, nearly every nation in the world belongs to the UN: membership totals 192 countries.
When States become Members of the United Nations, they agree to accept the obligations of the UN Charter, an international treaty that sets out basic principles of international relations. According to the Charter, the UN has four purposes:
- to maintain international peace and security;
- to develop friendly relations among nations;
- to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights;
- and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations.
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* The above story is adapted from materials provided by United Nations (UN)
** More information at United Nations (UN)
