Days of tranquillity allow access to Nuba Mountains for polio campaign

A programme to immunise 77,000 children in the Nuba Mountains region against polio was launched on Wednesday, as part of a national immunisation campaign that started on 17 February and will continue to the end of the month, a UNICEF press release stated. The Nuba Mountains portion of the polio campaign marks the first time in almost 19 years that the UN has gained access to deliver humanitarian relief in this region, contested by the government and rebel SPLM. While UN agencies have conducted two recent assessment missions to the Nuba Mountains, this is
the first time that Khartoum has approved the delivery of UN assistance to people living in the SPLM-controlled areas of the region, the statement added. The government and SPLM have agreed on a "window of tranquillity", expected to last until the end of the month.