Mr. Franz Rauchenstein:

I thank Deputy Smith for this question. It is a pertinent question because humanitarian action in South Sudan includes the activities of the ICRC and the programmes of the ICRC are among the most under-funded in the world. Activities have to be prioritised with the means available and prioritisation means reaching out to the most vulnerable exactly in those areas where it is also the most expensive to intervene. As the Deputy rightly points out, in some areas of Unity, which is the place where the ICRC team had to be evacuated two days ago, several tens of thousands of people are trapped in remote areas. They cannot leave for a neighbouring country but have to stay there and they have to be assisted. It is very difficult and very expensive. The difficulties are multi-sectoral. One of the difficulties is the lack of respect of the soldiers or weapon bearers for the humanitarian action. Additional efforts can be made there by the international community on the ground and by the commanders so that humanitarian actors are more respected because that is the conditio sine qua nonfor a humanitarian intervention.