South Sudan receives anti-COVID-19 material donation from China

China has donated anti-COVID-19 materials to South Sudan's refugee camps under the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund. A handover ceremony for the materials was held on June 30 in Juba, capital of South Sudan.

Mu Jianjun, the counselor for economic and commercial Affairs in the Chinese Embassy in South Sudan, and Juliette Murekeyisoni, the deputy representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in South Sudan, attended the ceremony. 

Mu said COVID-19 has brought an unprecedented crisis to refugees in South Sudan and poses a severe challenge for refugee protection.

In the face of the pandemic and vulnerable health conditions in South Sudan, China has taken positive actions and cooperated with the UNHCR to donate anti-pandemic materials to South Sudan to help frontline medical staff and refugees resist the virus and alleviate the shortage of materials in refugee camps, Mu said.

China will continue to keep a close eye on the difficulties and challenges faced by the refugee camps in South Sudan, deepen cooperation with the UNHCR and provide assistance within its capacity for the protection and support of refugees in the country, Mu added.

Funded by the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund and implemented by the UNHCR, it is a gratuitous assistance project to South Sudan using multilateral cooperation channels, and is a concrete manifestation of China's continuous support for the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, according to Mu.

He said China attaches great importance to the refugee issue, is committed to maintaining world peace and development, actively participates in humanitarian assistance, and advocates for resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation so as to eliminate the root causes of large-scale refugee creation.

China highly appreciates the important role played by the UNHCR in properly resolving the refugee issue, supports the UN and UNHCR in playing a coordinating role in global development cooperation and actively provides humanitarian assistance to people in need, Ma said.

Murekeyisoni praised the Chinese government for its strong support for refugee protection. She said COVID-19 is still living with us and it is very important to protect refugees and displaced people, adding that the shipment of anti-pandemic materials from China is very timely and will help South Sudan’s refugee camps and communities improve pandemic prevention measures.

The shipment, which includes masks, goggles, protective clothing, gloves and rubber boots, will be delivered as soon as possible to 17 primary-level health care centers and two hospitals to offer protection to a total of more than 900 frontline medical and support staff. 

These medical facilities provide health care and medical services to about 343,000 refugees, 80 percent of whom are women and children, and also to more than 60,000 residents of shelter communities.

China declared at the High-level Dialogue on Global Development on June 24 that it will allocate more resources for global development cooperation, upgrade the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund to a Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, and add $1 billion to the fund on top of the $3 billion already committed.