Humanitarian organizations and UN agencies active in Yei River State have voiced concern over restrictions imposed by the state government on humanitarian aid access to several areas affected by the ongoing conflict in the state.
Speaking at a government-humanitarians cluster meeting on Friday, Chief Francis, UNHCR’s area representative, said most of the NGOs cannot move freely in the state to deliver services to the conflict-affected civilians in rural areas.
Francis called on the warring parties to allow free movement to all humanitarian partners to save the lives of citizens.
“On behalf of the NGOs and UN agencies, I would like to thank the government of Yei River state for the accommodation of all the NGOs. We are trying to help as much as we can to help those people who are suffering,” said Francis.
“Some of our activities don’t have problems in the town, but to the outside town, their movements have been hindered. So, we want to take this opportunity to remind the government for the government to be able to pass this to the security apparatus that, UN and NGOs have a mandate to deliver services and we are not politicians, we are neutral organizations that come to help those in need,” he added.
For his part, David Lokonga Moses, Governor of Yei River State, promised to grantee free movement to all areas in the State.
“Carry out your assessments freely and first of all the government will provide accessibility. This accessibility is not only in Yei town because you are not part of the conflict, what you are doing here is to deliver services to the needy,” said Konga.
“I want to reiterate here as the governor with all my security apparatus and the government have to ensure that we have to provide humanitarian services to our people, he added.
Photo: Members of the humanitarian cluster at a meeting in Yei town (Radio Tamazuj)