It’s heart-soothing that Unity State government strides up to aid over 10,000 returnees at Rubkona County with food and non-food item, but adding life skills in the package, would be much appropriate.
South Sudan has witnessed more than 70,000 citizens returning from Sudan, in dire need of basic assistance.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Albino Akol Atak always makes frantic maneuvers to ensure meeting the basic needs of the returnees.
Recently Hon. Akol fronted challenges facing his ministry to the president who quickly directed the national ministry of finance and planning to immediately fund humanitarian affairs docket.
An amount of SSP 1 billion that the ministry of finance and planning, released earlier to Hon. Akol’s docket, to manage humanitarian needs of the returnees, was insufficient.
Owing to the large influx, the Humanitarian Affairs ministry, had also earlier, requested over $ 4 million, as emergency response fund, to address the needs of people from Sudan War.
The national government should officially hand the returnees to their respective states, which in turn forwards them to counties, payams and bomas, wherever they prefer to settle.
A case to note; returnees who survived horrified battle in Khartoum, only to enter an attack by armed assailants at Langkien in Nyirol, Jonglei state, where a man was killed, three children abducted, and woman went missing.
However, the responses of the governments, states and national, coupled with partners, are inevitable but would more appropriate and bear long term impact, when comprehensively accompanied with de-traumatization (trauma healing) and life skills empowerment.
These returnees passed through hard moments of their lives, though physically they may appear fine, but physiologically, which needs to be treated. Settling the returnees without life skills, will only leave them hungry and desperate at the end of the last food aid.
As the Chinese say, “teach me how to fish, so that I can eat fish for the rest of my life than giving me fish to keep me always looking for you when I need more fish”.
So, it’s better, we teach the returnees how to fish while giving them the little, available, as they cope with their new environment.