By William Madouk<\/p>\n
Ms. Kristin Skogen Lund, a member of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Board of Directors has concluded a visit to South Sudan meant to assess the humanitarian situation amid cuts in aid funding from the United States.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Ms. Skogen stated that the decision to visit South Sudan was driven by the need to gather firsthand information regarding the challenges faced in this conflict-affected area.<\/p>\n \u201cWe chose to come to South Sudan because we have a significant operation here, and it is important for us to experience firsthand the wide range of activities we are involved in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She emphasized that South Sudan is a particularly challenging location due to ongoing conflicts. Ms. Skogen highlighted that NRC provides a variety of emergency responses, including education, vocational training, agriculture, livestock support, and micro-financing.<\/p>\n \u201cThis visit is an opportunity for me to learn as much as possible about our work and the challenges faced by our team on the ground,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n Additionally, Ms. Skogen shared the NRC’s ambitious plans to support refugees and returnees through education, vocational training, business opportunities, and agricultural initiatives.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is essential for us to ensure these efforts lead to lasting change, so that even if we need to withdraw in the future, the results remain permanent,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n Ms. Skogen acknowledged that the recent U.S. executive order cutting aid funding presents a significant challenge to their operations in South Sudan.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the NRC, while we will experience a reduction in resources, we will strive to mitigate the impact and seek exemptions to minimize the loss of funding,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Mr. Kennedy Wafula Mabonga, NRC’s country director for South Sudan, remarked on the importance of the board members’ visit in understanding the crises in South Sudan.<\/p>\n \u201cWe visited Aweil to observe our work supporting refugees, many of whom are fleeing the crisis in Sudan. NRC is providing essential support in terms of shelter, water and sanitation, and education for children in the settlement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr. Mabonga stressed the significance of board members sharing their insights upon returning to Norway. He called on donors not to abandon their support for South Sudan, emphasizing that over 9 million people in the country are in need of humanitarian assistance, especially with the recent influx of refugees from Sudan.<\/p>\n The NRC is the largest humanitarian organization in the Nordic countries, employing over 15,000 staff across more than 40 countries. The organization provides support and protection to nearly 10 million displaced people in conflict and disaster-affected areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By William Madouk Ms. Kristin Skogen Lund, a member of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Board of Directors has concluded a visit to South Sudan meant to assess the humanitarian situation amid cuts in aid funding from the United States. Ms. Skogen stated that the decision to visit South Sudan[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":33010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Norwegian-Refugee-Council-NRC-Board-of-Directors-Ms.-Kristin-Skogen-receives-South-Sudan-map-from-NRC-team-in-Juba-.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33009"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33027,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33009\/revisions\/33027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cThis visit is crucial because it helps to raise awareness of the South Sudan crisis, which is often overshadowed by crises in places like Ukraine or Gaza,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n