{"id":46619,"date":"2026-07-31T13:48:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T11:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=46619"},"modified":"2026-08-06T13:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T11:52:17","slug":"jonglei-governor-urges-humanitarian-agencies-to-uphold-neutrality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/31\/jonglei-governor-urges-humanitarian-agencies-to-uphold-neutrality\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonglei governor urges humanitarian agencies to uphold neutrality"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Louis Loku<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Governor of Jonglei State, Dr. Riek Gai Kok, has called on humanitarian organisations operating in South Sudan to strictly adhere to the principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence as they carry out their humanitarian activities.<\/p>\n

The governor made the remarks on Wednesday during a meeting in Bor with the Country Director of Save the Children South Sudan, Christopher Nyamandi, to discuss humanitarian operations in Akobo County and the prevailing security situation in the area.<\/p>\n

During the meeting, Nyamandi expressed concern over four Save the Children vehicles that were reportedly taken by SPLM-IO forces in Walgak in January 2025 and allegedly used during military operations in Waat, Pajut, and Yuai.<\/p>\n

He appealed for the return of any Save the Children vehicles that may have been recovered during recent operations by the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF).<\/p>\n

Responding to the request, Governor Riek advised that matters relating to the recovered vehicles, including the Borchar Tanker, should be referred to the SSPDF General Headquarters in Bilpam and the relevant national humanitarian authorities, noting that the military operations in Northern Jonglei were conducted under the National Government.<\/p>\n

The meeting also reviewed Save the Children’s operations in Akobo County following the organisation’s decision to suspend its activities there for six weeks.<\/p>\n

According to officials, the temporary suspension was announced to allow investigations into allegations that some individual staff members had engaged in political activities, an action said to be inconsistent with humanitarian principles.<\/p>\n

Governor Riek stressed that humanitarian organisations must remain nonpartisan to maintain public trust and ensure continued access to vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n

He said respecting internationally recognised humanitarian principles is essential to delivering assistance effectively and protecting the credibility of aid agencies operating in conflict-affected areas.<\/p>\n

Also speaking during the meeting, the Chairperson of Jonglei State Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), James Jok Alier Bul, urged humanitarian organisations and their employees to avoid political engagement, including through social media platforms, while carrying out humanitarian work.<\/p>\n

He said aid workers should focus on delivering assistance impartially and avoid actions that could compromise the neutrality of their organisations.<\/p>\n

The meeting underscored the importance of continued cooperation between the Government of Jonglei State and humanitarian partners to ensure that life-saving assistance reaches vulnerable populations while maintaining the integrity and independence of humanitarian operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Louis Loku Governor of Jonglei State, Dr. Riek Gai Kok, has called on humanitarian organisations operating in South Sudan to strictly adhere to the principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence as they carry out their humanitarian activities. The governor made the remarks on Wednesday during a meeting in Bor[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":46620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Jonglei-State-Governor-Dr.-Riek-Gai-Kok-shakes-hands-with-Save-the-Children-South-Sudan.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46619","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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46621,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46619\/revisions\/46621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}