Humanitarian Coordinator condemns the second killing of an aid worker within days in South Sudan

(Juba, 3 November 2020) An aid worker has been killed by armed youth in South Sudan, just one day after another humanitarian lost his life while providing assistance. These two humanitarian workers killed in the past week were South Sudanese and were delivering critical nutrition services to vulnerable people affected by local conflicts and flooding.

Alain Noudéhou, the Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, has condemned the violence. “I am appalled by these repeated acts of violence against humanitarians. South Sudanese aid workers are enduring difficult conditions to deliver lifesaving assistance to their fellow citizens and should be protected,” he said.

He called for the perpetrators to be identified and brought to account: “The violence and the impunity must stop. We need safety and security of the people receiving and delivering aid.”

On 30 October, a community mobilizer working for Nile Hope, a South Sudanese non-governmental organization, in Canal/Pigi County in Jonglei State was fatally shot by armed youth. He was on his way from the organization’s base to a facility providing supplementary feeding and outpatient therapeutic care to malnourished children and new mothers. His colleague escaped with minor injuries. All humanitarian services have been temporarily suspended in the area following the shooting.

The incident brings the number of humanitarian workers killed this year in South Sudan to nine – this is three times the total number of humanitarians who lost their lives in the country in 2019. A total of 124 aid workers, mostly South Sudanese, have lost their lives in the line of duty since the conflict broke out in late 2013.

Notes to editors

For the Humanitarian Coordinator’s statement on the aid worker killed in Pibor on 29 October, see here: https:// bit.ly/2GnxmrW

For humanitarian access analysis in South Sudan, see OCHA’s third quarterly access snapshot of 2020 here: https://bit.ly/2TbxoG8

For further information, please contact:

Emmi Antinoja, Head of Communications and Information Management, +211 92 129 6333 antinoja@un.org
Htet Htet Oo, Reporting Officer, +211 92 8062 558 and ooh@un.org
OCHA press releases are available at www.unocha.org/south-sudan or www.reliefweb.int