The United Nations has begun an operation to bring food by air into Akobo in remote eastern Jonglei, where approximately 30,000 South Sudanese are in need of emergency assistance.

Akobo lies far to the northeast of the capital Juba, in the territory of the Lou Nuer, an area no longer controlled by the government of Salva Kiir.

Supplying the area with humanitarian relief requires either crossing a front line in Jonglei State, crossing the Ethiopian border, or flying supplies in by air.

Accordingly, today the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) began using helicopters and air drops to bring food into the remote area.

Akobo is the first location the two UN agencies are reaching under a new joint strategy. “Fourteen such missions are planned over the next month, seeking to support as many as 250,000 people in remote, conflict-affected communities in Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity states,” reads a press release by WFP.

The agencies say that the supplies will help stave off starvation and outbreaks of disease.  The WFP country director says he is “enormously concerned that things could get worse.”

“We have to act quickly to avert an even worse crisis as the rainy season approaches. The mobile response teams are a swift and flexible approach we have been using to reach as many people as we can with assistance in a tremendously challenging environment,” he said.

Supplies include food, specialized nutrition products for children, water and sanitation kits for families, and ready-to-use therapeutic food for malnourished children. 

Photo: UN helicopter in Akobo (UNICEF)