Local authorities in Renk County, Upper Nile State, said that humanitarian organizations will resume work today 15 March after a hiatus of more than five months after the youth there demanded jobs and burned some NGO facilities last year.
The Executive Director of Renk County, Anyang Agou, said in a statement to Radio Tamazuj Sunday that the organizations will resume their activities in providing humanitarian and health services to citizens after concerned parties reached an agreement.
For his part, the Northern Upper Nile director of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), Benykeng Ajak, confirmed that the organizations will resume their activities today after reaching an agreement.
“The humanitarian agencies will start work tomorrow, 15 March. We agreed that they resume work after meetings of the committee that was set up to address the issue and implement its resolutions. The committee is made up of fourteen people, six youth, and three members from the RRC, and two from the NGOs, and one member from the labor office,” Ajak said.
Asked if the demands of the youth have been met, Ajak said, “Yes, according to me their demands have been met. The NGOs said they need qualified people so now the youth will bring their certificates and apply. Also, those jobs that do not require specialized skills like drivers, guards, messengers, etc. will be hired locally and not brought from Juba or Uganda, or London.”
The representative of the youth, Akol Dok, said that the organizations will start their activities after committing to the agreement which will be reviewed in three months.
“The NGOs are going to resume their services and humanitarian work in Renk after we agreed and came up with resolutions. We also agreed that they employee 80 percent of their staff locally and train locally sourced staff in various jobs,” Dok said.
He pointed out that the agreement would fulfill the aspirations of all parties.
South Sudanese youth have overtime demanded that UN and NGOs working in their home states give them priority in employment over fellow citizens from other states and foreigners.
At the end of last year, the youth in Renk, Upper Nile State, and Bentiu in Unity State protested the lack of employment and demanded that some NGOs leave their respective states.
In Renk, Upper Nile State, a humanitarian aid store belonging to Medair was torched and aid vehicles vandalized. This led to security tensions and the evacuation of some NGO staff from the areas.