South Sudan: Humanitarian Access Situation Snapshot (January - December 2015)

In 2015, more than 900 humanitarian access incidents were reported by humanitarian partners in South Sudan, an increase of 17 per cent compared to 2014. More than half of the incidents reported involved violence against humanitarian personnel and/or assets. The majority occurred in Unity, Central Equatoria and Upper Nile. Western Equatoria saw the largest increase in reported incidents, from 3 in 2014 to 50 in 2015.

IMPACT ON HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

In 2015, humanitarian access was compromised by active hostilities, violence against staff and assets, and bureaucratic impediments. Of the 909 reported access incidents in 2015 (compared to 779 in 2014 and 289 in 2013), the most prevalent type of incident was violence against personnel/assets, with robbery/burglary/looting and threats/harassment of staff being the most common forms. Active hostilities, especially in Upper Nile,Unity and Western Equatoria, as well as insecurity in large parts of Lakes state, hampered humanitarian operations and organizations' ability to reach people in need, with 210 cases of withdrawal of humanitarian personnel/suspension of humanitarian activities reported in 2015. Bureaucratic impediments and interference in implementation also created delays and difficulties for humanitarian partners, with interference in implementation accounting for nearly 12 per cent of all reported access incidents.