Emergency aid in South Sudan

The three Christian aid organizations ZOA, Save a Child and Tear Netherlands launch an emergency action for victims of recent violence in southern Sudan. Investigating the situation in Jonglei State last week, a ZOA-team saw villages that were burnt down completely, smoke still visible. "We were quite speechless, when we realized what the people around us have been through and how anxious they are for what will come", says Country Director Kevin Beattie, reporting on his visit. (You can download the report of the visit here.)

The coming weeks the organizations will start their relief efforts with clean drinking water and sanitation for 31,500 people, for which they need an amount of 30,000 EUR to start with. The organizations are investigating for which basic facilities, such as schools, money is needed for reconstruction.

The situation in Jonglei State is the result of years of fighting between the tribes Lou Nuer and Murle. Women, children and cattle were robbed from both sides. Since many weapons arrived in the area during the civil war, skirmishes get out of hand violently.

At the end of December an armed group of about six thousand Lou Nuer raided villages of Murle, and has stolen fifty- to eighty thousand cattle. There is an unknown number of deaths - the lowest estimate is ‘more than a thousand ' - and tens of thousands of people have been displaced after their homes of mud and straw are burned. The displaced persons fled to the surrounding bush, where they have hardly access to water and food.