Humanitarian partners in South Sudan call for the urgent removal of recently imposed taxes and charges. More than 60,000 people have already been affected after the United Nations was forced to pause life-saving airdrops of food assistance as fuel runs low. This number will increase to 145,000 by the end of May, should the measures remain in place. Acknowledging the assurances by many members of the Government of South Sudan that humanitarians are exempt, Ms. Anita Kiki Gbeho, the Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, urged action by the Government on these assurances to prevent humanitarian operations by the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from coming to a standstill.

“We have already had to pause airdrops, which is impacting families in the hardest-to-reach locations within the context of already pared-back humanitarian operations. 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.”

Since February, the Government of South Sudan has imposed a series of new taxes and charges at border crossings and in the country. Although the Government has assured that these taxes will be removed, there has been no written commitment to date.

These measures would add US$339,000 monthly to the cost of food assistance and the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) operations. This is enough to feed over 16,300 people for a month. “It is vital that our limited funds are spent on saving lives and not bureaucratic impediments,” underscored the Humanitarian Coordinator.

For further information, please contact:
Joseph Inganji, Head of Office, inganji@un.org Susie Jin, Associate Humanitarian Affairs Officer, jin3@un.org OCHA press releases are available at www.unocha.org/south-sudan or www.reliefweb.int