A lecturer at the University of Juba is urging international humanitarian agencies to reach out to the people in the areas affected by the conflict in South Sudan.

Many people have fled to areas that are not accessed easily due to bad roads, according to aid agencies.

Yesterday the Centre for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba held a public lecture to review the Operation Lifeline Sudan for aid agencies to reach out to the affected populations in the country.

Operation Lifeline Sudan or OLS was established in April 1989 in response to a devastating famine and the effects of the Second Sudanese Civil War in the then southern Sudan region.

Speaking during the lecture, the Director of the Centre for Peace and Development Studies, Dr. Luka Biong, urged humanitarian agencies to learn from OLS’ experience and help rescue the affected population.

“One of the important lessons that we learnt from OLS is the role of coordination. The coordination at the level of the donors, coordination at the level of the NGOs and coordination also with the UN agencies and also from the experience,” he said.

“One of the most important things is the issue of access whether by the government of South Sudan or by the other side, it is important that access to humanitarian assistant is a right.”

Dr. Priscilla Nyanayang, human right and peace activist, who worked for OLS during the 21-year war, urged the NGOs to focus their attention on the communities in the conflict affected areas.

The Operation Lifeline Sudan or O-L-S, was a consortium of UN agencies, mainly UNICEF and the World Food Program, and other 35 Non-governmental organizations operating in southern Sudan during the war with Khartoum.

They provided humanitarian assistance throughout war-torn and drought-afflicted regions in the South.