• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News
    • News: United Nations

    Aid mislabeling controversy affects aid delivery in South Sudan

    If the usual violence and the rainy season were not challenging enough, delivery of humanitarian assistance in South Sudan has gotten even more difficult. Why? We find out.

    By Jenny Lei Ravelo // 19 March 2014
    A convoy of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan in Jonglei State in March 2013. As a result of aid mislabeling in South Sudan, delivery of humanitarian goods to the country is being delayed or prevented from reaching their destinations. Photo by: Martine Perret / U.N.

    Mislabeling a humanitarian assistance package may not seem like a big deal, but it has caused quite a stir in South Sudan.

    A high-level team of U.N. investigators is currently in Juba to find out exactly what happened with the transport of a cargo tagged as basic supplies for the United Nations peacekeeping force in the country.

    The South Sudanese government claims the cargo included land mines, but the U.N. mission in the country insists there were only masks and respirators. In any case, the cargo should have been properly labeled and transported by air, according to an agreement between UNMISS and the local authorities.

    "We made a very regrettable mistake. The containers were badly labeled; the packing was badly done," UNMISS spokesperson Ariane Quentier told Devex. "A high level delegation has arrived in Juba to conduct an investigation to understand ... what are the circumstances and make sure it does not happen again."

    Quentier declined to elaborate on who was in charge of handling cargo, as well as the standard procedures for oversight.

    She also declined to comment on possible sanctions to the UNMISS transport contractors if they are found to be liable: "We are not there right now, so I don't think we can go to anything hypothetical and based on speculations. Let's wait for the result of this investigation."

    Delays, spot searches

    Quentier did admit, however, that the controversy over the mislabeled packages is affecting aid delivery at the worst possible time for aid workers already struggling to deal with the rainy season in South Sudan.

    Over the past week, several humanitarian assistance convoys and at least one airlift were delayed or prevented from reaching their destinations, an official with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance in Juba confirmed to Devex.

    Following the UNMISS incident, authorities have also started conducting more spot searches of humanitarian convoys, sometimes “accompanied by demands for unauthorized payments and intimidation of aid staff [or] transport contractors,” the official said.

    An internal document by the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations obtained by Foreign Policy provides in detail some of these abuses, which appear to have been happening prior to the aid mislabeling incident.

    Part of the U.N. peacekeeping mandate includes assisting in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, as well as escorting convoys and providing security to aid workers in South Sudan. Following the violence triggered by a failed coup last December, UNMISS opened its bases to thousands of civilians fleeing the conflict, and is currently helping to set up new camps to house the growing number of refugees.

    But the mission’s relationship with the government has gotten sour in recent months, as authorities accuse the U.N. mission of meddling in the country’s internal affairs and perpetuating violence by supporting rebel forces.

    Read more development aid news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.

    • Humanitarian Aid
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Jenny Lei Ravelo

      Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo

      Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.

    Search for articles

    Related Jobs

    • Communications Professional
      Bogota, Colombia | Colombia | Latin America and Caribbean
    • Head of Mission (Ukraine)
      Kyiv, Ukraine | Ukraine | Eastern Europe
    • Social Support Worker
      Brussels, Belgium | Belgium | Western Europe
    • See more

    Most Read

    • 1
      Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
    • 2
      Strengthening health systems by measuring what really matters
    • 3
      Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB
    • 4
      Opinion: Why vision is key to unlocking global development potential
    • 5
      How AI-powered citizen science can be a catalyst for the SDGs

    Trending

    Financing for Development Conference

    The Trump Effect

    Newsletters

    Related Stories

    United NationsUN air service faces cuts, jeopardizing aid access to remote areas

    UN air service faces cuts, jeopardizing aid access to remote areas

    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement