The Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association, which is the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army’s (SPLA) humanitarian wing, has issued an ultimatum to NGOs working in southern Sudan to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or leave the area, SPLA spokesman Samson Kwaje confirmed to IRIN on Monday. “It is true, we want to have a memorandum of understanding between us and the NGOs working in the area,” he said. The document was the result of a year’s negotiation between the SRRA and the NGOs, he explained. “The NGOs are refusing to sign it, yet it will be for their own good,” he said. “It provides for the protection of the aid workers and their property and also stresses that the NGOs must employ the local communities.” Kwaje stressed the MOU was not anything “new or strange”. “We felt it was high time the NGOs operating in southern Sudan signed it,” he said.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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