MSF Holland, General Director, Nelke Manders, addressing media during her visit to South Sudan @Eye Radio/April 2019

Medicine San Frontiers says its health reports are not meant to taint the image of the government but to help it address problems facing citizens.

“Sometimes governments don’t like to hear what the truth is, to be honest, but we are not there to harm the government” Nelke Manders, the General Director for the medical charity said.

MSF has been operating in South Sudan since during the struggle for liberation.

It supports those exposed to extreme violence and living in fear for their lives.

“We are not there to cause trouble, we are there to support and that the life of those people suffering is improving,” Manders said.

The medical charity says its teams provide basic and specialized healthcare and respond to emergencies and outbreaks affecting isolated communities, internally displaced people and refugees from Sudan.

“We are there to ask the government to help us to address what we have in common,” he said.

“We want the people to live in a safe and secure manner. That’s the first aim of any government worldwide.”

MSF has been releasing reports on people who receive its services, including wounded soldiers and rape survivors.

Its November 2018 report on rape suggested that over 120 women and girls were raped, beaten and brutalized in the former Unity State in a span of just 10 days – a report which angered the government South Sudan.

“We share the MSF data, the expression that people have not been safe and not being secure, that’s always a little bit difficult.”

Nelke Manders is currently touring the country and assessing the work of MSF and the situation in the country.