Photo Lucy Beck/CARE

August 16, 2021 — South Sudan, alongside Afghanistan, tops the list as one of the deadliest places to be an aid worker according to an analysis done by CARE International on data from the Humanitarian Outcomes Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD). A devastating 78 aid workers have lost their lives since the beginning of this year, including 17 in South Sudan and Afghanistan respectively. The two countries account for 44% of all humanitarian deaths so far this year (although the majority of Afghanistan’s fatalities occurred in a single incident).

According to Rosalind Crowther, CARE South Sudan Country Director, “Ten years on from independence, South Sudan is facing its worst humanitarian crisis ever. At the same time, the safety and security of aid workers has seen a concerning deterioration. There was an alarming increase in aid workers attacked and killed, and aid supplies stolen in 2020, which has continued into 2021. A failure to ensure that humanitarians are protected will lead to unavoidable suspension or disruption of lifesaving operations in critically affected areas.”

After a two-year decline in fatal attacks against aid workers in South Sudan, killings increased sharply in 2020 and continue at a level not seen since 2016-2017. In 2021, this worrying trend is continuing. According to Humanitarian Outcomes, “most attacks occurred in Jonglei and Unity states, but have also been rising in areas outside of these original conflict hotspots, reflecting an expansion of lawlessness and growing desperation in parts of the population traumatised by years of civil war.”

On top of having the highest number of aid worker fatalities, South Sudan also recorded the most attacks against aid workers so far in 2021 and for the 2nd year in a row. Incidents in South Sudan account for 35% (40) out of the 115 recorded so far this year.

Amin David Asu, CARE South Sudan Area Manager in Koch says, “Working in South Sudan is so frightening. Since 2018 the situation has been very volatile, and we have seen a lot of cattle raids and revenge killings and this really traumatised all staff, making us fear for our safety and security.  This year, project supplies from the nutrition and women and girls’ friendly centres were also looted, which disrupted the smooth service delivery of humanitarian aid to those already in desperate need.”

This year’s World Humanitarian Day theme #TheHumanRace focuses on the impact of climate change on humanitarian crises. Both South Sudan and Afghanistan are countries facing complex emergencies that are being exacerbated by climate crises including flooding and droughts.

Sheri Lim, CARE International Lead Advisor on Resilience and Gender says; “We know that climate change is a threat multiplier and can lead to increased tension and conflict within communities and populations, as people are forced to compete over already scarce resources. It also leads to increased displacement and more pressure on the communities hosting the displaced. Countries already in situations of armed conflict are disproportionately affected by climate variability and extremes. Climate change adds extra burdens, tensions and stress onto already severely stressed populations, and further reduces their ability to cope.”

For More Information:
Rachel Kent
Senior Press Officer
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

- CARE

Photo via Vatican News

The Pope expresed his deep sadness in receiving news of the “brutal attack" on a group of Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that resulted in the deaths of Sister Mary Abud and Sister Regina Roba. In the telegram, sent through Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, the Pope offered his “heartfelt condolences” to their families and religious community in the wave of this “senseless act of violence”.

He expressed his hope that “their sacrifice will advance the cause of peace, reconciliation and security in the region” and offered prayers for “their eternal rest and the comfort of those who grieve their loss”.

The two sisters were killed following an ambush on the road that connects the South Sudanese capital Juba to Nimule, on the border with Uganda. The nuns, along with some sisters and several faithful, were returning to Juba after participating in the celebration of the centenary of the establishment of the parish of Loa, in the diocese of Torit, where the church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. They were traveling on a bus that was attacked by armed men. Local sources reported that Sister Mary, Sister Regina and three other people were killed as a result of the assault. - Amedeo Lomonaco, Vatican News

Photo Courtesy PD Daily

Opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema secured a stunning landslide victory over incumbent Edgar Lungu in Zambia's presidential election, results showed on Monday.

The electoral commission said Hichilema got 2,810,777 votes against Lungu's 1,814,201, with all but one of the 156 constituencies counted. 

"I therefore declare that the said Hichilema to be president of Zambia," electoral commission chairman, Esau Chulu, said in a packed results centre in the capital Lusaka.

That would make the third time that power has shifted peacefully from a ruling party to the opposition since the southern African country's independence from Britain in 1964.

Across Zambia, celebrations broke out in the streets as Hichilema's supporters wearing the red and yellow of his United Party for National Development (UPND) danced and sang, while drivers honked their horns.

Celebrations could be short-lived however: Zambia is in dire financial straights, and it became the continent's first pandemic-era sovereign default in November after failing to keep up with its international debt payments.  

That was owing to an explosive mix of depressed commodity prices - which had pushed Zambia into recession well before the pandemic - and a brutal slowdown in economic activity caused by the pandemic itself.

Hichilema, 59, a former CEO at an accounting firm before entering politics, now faces the task of trying to revive Zambia's fortunes. The economy has been buoyed only slightly by more favourable copper prices - now hovering around decade highs, driven partly by the boom in electric cars.

Last year, Zambia, Africa's second biggest copper miner, produced a record output of the metal. 

International Monetary Fund support is on hold until after the vote, as is a debt restructuring plan seen as an early test for a new global plan aimed at easing the burden of poor countries. 

Lungu, 64, has yet to concede defeat, and has indicated that he might challenge the result, which will be difficult, given the margin.

Lungu said on Saturday that the election was "not free and fair" after incidents of violence against ruling Patriotic Front party agents in three provinces, and the party was consulting on its next course of action.

UPND officials dismissed Lungu's statement as emanating from people "trying to throw out the entire election just to cling on to their jobs." 

If Lungu wants to settle a dispute or nullify elections, he must approach the Constitutional Court within seven days to lodge a complaint after a winner is announced. Hichilema's win reverses a narrow loss in the 2016 presidential election against Lungu. PD Daily