By Richard Sultan
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says it has paused humanitarian airdrops in hardest-to-reach locations of South Sudan. This action follows a series of new fuel taxes and charges at border crossings and within the country.
“We call on the Government of South Sudan to uphold all agreements with humanitarians, including our NGO partners, and immediately remove new taxes and fees so that we can continue to support people in need,” said Anita Kiki Gbeho on April 28. Gbeho is the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Mission in South Sudan, and Resident Coordinator in South Sudan.
More than 60,000 people have already been affected after the pause in life-saving airdrops of food assistance and this number will likely increase to 145,000 by the end of May, should the new taxes and charges remain in place.
A joint press release from NGOs involved in South Sudan asserts that recent new charges add (USD) $339K monthly to the cost of food assistance and UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) operations. The increase would be enough to feed over 16,300 people for a month if it were used for food.
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“It is vital that our limited funds are spent on saving lives and not bureaucratic impediments,” Ghebo said.
Meanwhile, Nichlas Haysom, Head of UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), said he is forced to start cutting back peacekeeping patrols, suspending road repairs and construction of police stations, schools, and health centers, and reducing support for peace and electoral processes.
“This has also affected their support for peace and electoral process for the upcoming December elections,” Haysom said.
South Sudan continues to grapple with an escalating humanitarian crisis marked by subnational violence, climate change, displacement, and soaring living costs, pushing millions of families into food and nutrition insecurity. Nine million people require humanitarian assistance in 2024. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) projects that 7.1 million people will face severe food insecurity (Crisis levels or higher) during the April-July lean season
In a bid to resolve the impasse, through a joint press statement, donors including Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, have renewed their call on the transitional government to immediately halt recent actions that they say have imposed illicit and unacceptable costs on donor governments, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), United Nations agencies, and their partners.
“Of particular concern is the transitional government’s continued imposition of the Petroleum Accreditation Permit requirement on UN fuel trucks, which is preventing these trucks from bringing fuel into South Sudan to support UN operations, which are funded by our governments and those of other member states,” reads part of the statement, adding that “this illicit action is severely impacting the ability of UNMISS, UN humanitarian agencies, and humanitarian partners to conduct their mission in support of the South Sudanese people.”
No one knows at this point how long the deadlock will last.
