Turkey Donates Food For Victims Of Floods, Conflict In South Sudan

The Turkish Red Crescent on Wednesday donated 31 tons of food to South Sudan to support people affected by floods and conflict in the Central African country.

Speaking at the handover ceremony in the capital Juba, Turkish Ambassador to South Sudan Erdem Mutaf said the aid will be delivered to 6,000 people displaced by recent conflict in the Tambura county of the Western Equatoria state, and another 6,000 people affected by floods in the Jonglei state.

"We are here today to handover the humanitarian assistance to World Food Programme (WFP) logistics cluster to deliver the aid to needy people. This idea was given to us by South Sudan Islamic Council in August when they visited us to help people affected by conflict in Tambura," said Mutaf.

He added that this "symbolic and very important" donation shows strong relations between the two countries.

Mutaf also lauded the South Sudan Red Cross for maintaining close cooperation with them to reach out vulnerable people in the country.

He revealed that funds by Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) were used for this humanitarian aid for the people of South Sudan.

Peter Mayen Majongdit, South Sudanese minister of humanitarian affairs and disaster management, thanked the Turkish government for their support for the vulnerable people.

"We all know this country has been going through a number of disasters and we believe that with collective coordination we are able to overcome all these challenges," said Majongdit.

Meshack Malo, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) country representative in South Sudan, also welcomed the food relief, saying it will help them alleviate suffering of the most affected people by recent heavy flooding and conflict.

He said that FAO will continue working closely with the concerned authorities to ensure smooth flow of humanitarian aid to those in need.

"We are very happy with this food assistance and we hope to transport it with WFP logistics cluster to reach the vulnerable people who are affected by floods and conflict on time," said John Lobor, secretary general of South Sudan Red Cross.

Faruk Aksoy, Turkish Red Crescent country representative, said that the aid will be distributed in collaboration with South Sudan Red Cross Crescent and South Sudan Islamic Council with logistical support from the WFP.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), more than 780,000 people have been affected by flooding in 27 counties in eight states since May.

Jonglei, Unity, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and Upper Nile are the worst affected states.

At least 31 people have died from heavy flooding caused by torrential rains in the Gogrial West and Tonj East counties of the Warrap state.

Thousands of houses have been destroyed and more than 19 cattle camps ruined.

The UNOCHA estimates that sub-national violence between the government and opposition forces in Tambura has affected 80,000 people.​​​​​​​ -