STORY: African bank, UNHCR commit to supporting forcibly displaced people in South Sudan
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 11, 2023
DATELINE: Feb. 12, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:30
LOCATION: Juba
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Raouf Mazou and others at the reception center
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): RAOUF MAZOU, UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Operations
3. various of Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Raouf Mazou and others at the reception center
4. various of refugees
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MARIE-LAURE AKIN-OLUGBADE, AfDB's Vice President for Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery
6. various of Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade and Raouf Mazou meeting with local authorities
7. various of refugees

STORYLINE:

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have committed to deepening their collaboration for displaced people and host communities in South Sudan.

The UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, Raouf Mazou, and the AfDB's Vice President for Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, who concluded a joint visit to South Sudan last week, highlighted investments in refugee and returnee areas and the local communities hosting them, as well as the crucial role of partnerships between humanitarian and development actors.

"South Sudan has generously kept its border open to receive people fleeing the war in Sudan, but they can't do it alone. More humanitarian and development support is needed to deliver life-saving assistance and enable conflict-affected communities to get back on their feet and rebuild their lives," Mazou said in a joint statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): RAOUF MAZOU, UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Operations
"We are here in Maban, one of the places in South Sudan where we have a very significant influx of refugees and returnees from Sudan. Since April last year, this country has received more than 500,000 people. About 100,000 Sudanese refugees and about 400,000 South Sudanese returnees."

More than half a million people have arrived in South Sudan since the start of the war in Sudan on April 15, 2023, most of them South Sudanese who had been in Sudan for decades, according to the UNHCR.

It said many people are heading back to villages that barely have any services, where there is no humanitarian assistance available.

The UNHCR said the Sudanese refugees are being relocated to refugee settlements where resources were already overstretched.

Akin-Olugbade said they are committed to responding to the biggest development challenges facing the African continent, including preventing and addressing forced displacement.

"Our collaboration and partnership with the UNHCR is an important and critical way to advance resilience and durable solutions for refugees, IDPs (internally displaced persons), returnees, and host communities in South Sudan," she added.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MARIE-LAURE AKIN-OLUGBADE, AfDB's Vice President for Regional Development, Integration, and Business Delivery
"We are really looking to, you know, help empower the youth and the women of this refugee camp and to give them opportunities to be really positive contributors in their host communities and bring about the skills, the knowledge that they had when the crisis struck where they were coming from and which they are bringing in to host communities."

The delegation visited a refugee camp and transit center hosting arrivals from Sudan, allowing them an opportunity to hear from affected people. In Juba, they met with high-level government officials, who welcomed the partnership and collaboration addressing the pressing needs in the country. 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Juba.
(XHTV)