Humanitarian organizations in South Sudan condemn violence against civilians - Press release by the Humanitarian Country Team

Juba, 18 April 2014: Country representatives of key non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies and donors in South Sudan unite in condemning recent days’ attacks against civilians in Bentiu, Bor, and other parts of the country. Humanitarian partners are particularly outraged by deliberate and targeted killings of civilians in hospitals, churches, UN peacekeeping bases and other places where people’s rights should be sacrosanct.

Aid agencies pledge to continue to stand with all civilians in South Sudan, whoever they are – in particular with the children, women and elderly people who bear the brunt of this conflict.

Humanitarian organizations have deployed emergency surgical teams to Bentiu and Bor, boosting the health response to the recent violence. Aid workers also continue to provide food, shelter, water, protection and other essential services, including to civilians sheltering inside UN peacekeeping bases. Across the country, aid agencies aim to provide life-saving assistance to 3.2 million people, who face increasingly difficult conditions, by June 2014.

For more information, contact Amanda Weyler, UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in South Sudan (weylera@un.org / +211 922 473 115)