Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 7 October 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade

Humanitarian Crisis in South Sudan: International Committee of Red Cross

10:00 am

Mr. Franz Rauchenstein:

That is also a very good question, so thank you. Access is one of the major problems today in the conflict-affected areas. In certain parts of Unity and Upper Nile, there is fragmentation of armed groups. There are smaller groups operating and security guarantees for NGOs or international humanitarian actors are difficult to achieve. Our team had security guarantees from both of the parties but we were nevertheless looted and threatened, which demonstrates the volatility of the situation. It must be safe to distribute humanitarian aid and if harm is created by distributing aid, the effect must be considered. It is a worrying element as sometimes, humanitarian aid is looted after it has been distributed.

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