South Sudan - Fletcher visit - 22 February 2026

Description
STORY: OCHA / SOUTH SUDAN FLETCHER VISIT
TRT: 24:53
SOURCE: OCHA
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT OCHA ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / LOCAL LANGUAGE / NATS

DATELINE: SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS

Shotlist
21 FEBRUARY 2026, AKOBO TOWN, JONGLEI STATE, SOUTH SUDAN

1. Various shots, helicopter landing in Akobo
2. Various shots, ERC getting off and greeted by UN leadership team and local authorities
3. Various shots, people displaced by the recent fighting waiting to greet the ERC and 4. holding signs with messages calling for protection and peace
5. Med shot,  in the car driving through Akobo town

21 FEBRUARY 2026, AKOBO COUNTY HOSPITAL, JONGLEI STATE

6. Wide shot, exterior, entrance of the hospital
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator and UN Relief Chief:
[Asking the head doctor]: “And are you getting many civilians with gunshot wounds?”
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Doctor Giel Samuel Gatkoi, Akobo County Hospital Director:
“Yes most people who arrive here, they are civilians. Some of them come with gunshot wounds. Some of them got burned. They were sleeping in their houses, but the bombs came.”
9. Various shots, walking through the hospital
10. Various shots, ERC meeting with Kon, a baby wounded by gunshot, and his family
11. UPSOUND (English) Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator and UN Relief Chief meeting with the grandmother of Kon, an eighteen month child who sustained a bullet injury:
- “Please give her my condolences for the loss of their daughter.”
- “The doctor says that his wound will be ok, that the fracture will heal and he will be walking.”

12. Various shots, physiotherapist and family taking care of Kon
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Nyal, physiotherapist, works as a volunteer with no pay since the cuts in humanitarian funding:
“ICRC supports the gun shot and wounded patients. We are working voluntarily because this is our job and this is our task.”
“They killed the mother. This wound he got from when the mother was killed. The father was also killed. The pass bullet shot the mother. The mother is carrying this baby and she died. And the bullet that came out of the mother is the one which wounded this baby.”
“He has a femur fracture, this is why we pull it up like this because we need to align the bone.”
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Susan, Reproductive health specialist and protection officer with Nile Hope NGO:
“They [the medical staff] are just working to help the community. Because these are the sons of the community, and these are the daughters of the community. They work voluntarily, knowing that there is nothing [i.e. no pay]. ICRC is just helping them with the treatments, and also the relocation of the wounded people, the gun-wounded people. But for them there is no support. The government is not paying them – because they’re supposed to be government staff – and no organization is taking the hospital over. There’s no funding.”
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Doctor Giel Samuel Gatkoi, Akobo County Hospital Director:
“This is a 70-year old grandmother. She was shot. When she ran inside the room, they shot her inside there. And they burned the house.”
16. Various shots, ERC meeting with the elderly woman and her family
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Doctor Kenneth Ozoilo, ICRC Surgeon:
“We’ve responded to the sudden influx of injured patients that occurred with the recent increase in the fighting.” 
“Most of them have injuries to the extremities. And this reflects some of the challenge we have with access, because some of them come sometimes after walking in the bush two, sometimes up to two weeks. Several days to two weeks. So by the time they come here, some of the wounds are really very infected. Sometimes we have to amputate. And this also gives us concern because it raises the possibility that maybe patients with more severe injuries are not able to reach us.”
“And then of course then there is psychological therapy, you know, they've experienced a lot of trauma. They're going to need a lot of psychosocial support.”
18. Various shots, hospital with staff treating patients
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator and UN Relief Chief:
“So we're in Akobo, not far from the fighting. There's been huge amounts of displacement here. And in this hospital, you're seeing the victims of that. Survivors of gunshot wounds, a 70-year-old grandmother, a tiny child Kol who I hope will survive, but who's lost both his parents and his brothers and sisters. You're seeing extraordinary work led by the ICRC and others. Many, many of them volunteers. You're seeing the impact of cuts. And the generator is not on for very long. And who knows where that funding is really going to come from in the future? And you're seeing the impact of a completely unnecessary war on water resources that people here will never themselves see. And they're asking me, is help coming? And I hope it is, but I don't know whether I can give them that reassurance.”

21 FEBRUARY 2026, EPISCOPAL CHURCH, REFUGE FOR THOUSANDS OF DISPLACED PEOPLE, JONGLEI STATE, SOUTH SUDAN

20. Various shots, ERC talking to a group of men displaced by the recent violence
21. UPSOUND (English) Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator and UN Relief Chief:
[talking to a group of men IDPs] “Do you feel safe here?”
22. UPSOUND (English) Aid worker, translating:
“They say they feel safe here, but the problem is hunger.”
23. Various shots,  Susan (aid worker) showing the ERC the leaves that people eat to survive
24. Various shots, young women and children displaced, sitting on the floor
25. Various shots, ERC meeting with a grandmother holding Bhan, her one-month old grandchild, orphaned.
26. Various shots, Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator and UN Relief Chief, meeting with a grandmother holding Bhan, her one-month old grandchild, orphaned:
- Aid worker: “The father of this child was shot, the mother was abducted. He’s one month and 4 days.”
- ERC: “Did she have to walk to get here?”
- Aid worker translating: “Yes, 7 days.”
- ERC: “And did you receive food?”
- Aid worker, translating: “There’s no food”
- Grandmother (caretaker of the child: “I was trying to give her mixed food, but now the baby is unwell”
- Aid worker, translating: “She says the hospital has no medication, They took the baby to the hospital but there’s no medication. The baby is having vomiting and diarrhea but there’s no proper care in the hospital. And she cannot afford the clinic.”
- Aid worker, translating: “She says many of the areas are destroyed. Many areas in Uror and Lankien are completely destroyed. And Akobo west.”

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator and UN Relief Chief:
“So it's vital we get access to areas like these that have been closed off to us for a long time. And the team are doing that work, negotiating cross-line access across the fighting so that we can reach these communities, because otherwise they're going weeks without the support they need. And you can see and hear the stories, devastating stories of sexual violence, of hunger and starvation, of children arriving who've lost everything.
And the real humanitarian frontlines are mothers, in fact, the grandmother like this, who is carrying a child, someone else's child and caring for that child, and doing everything they can to help that child survive. And again and again, you hear this question: ‘Is the help coming?’ And the question I put to people is, is it coming?”
28. Various shots,  baby Bhan being held by his grandmother
29. Various shots, ERC meeting with a mother and her disabled and traumatized daughter
30. Various shots, ERC meeting with two young girls who lost their parents
31. Various shots, grandmother and her grandchild sitting on the floor
32. Various shots, Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator and UN Relief Chief engaging with large group of IDPs outside the church.
33. UPSOUND (English) Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator and UN Relief Chief: 
“Do you feel safe here?”
- Aid worker/ translator: “They are still fearing, even if they reached here. Because they are traumatized.”
- Woman talking (translator in background): “She says they do not have food, no shelter”
- “She says that their houses were burned down, Since they came to Akobo there’s no shelter, no food, no clothes, no medical. No support. If you guys can support us please do it quickly because we are suffering enough. We are eating the leaves of this ‘lalob’ [this tree].” On their way this is what they’re eating, even arriving here. Not that the community is not welcoming, the community is very welcoming but they don’t have enough resources.”
- Woman talking again – Translator: “she says they are being slaughtered like goats, coming here they fell sick, the hunger is too much. When they go to the hospital, there’s no medication.”

34. Various shots, women showing the leaves they are eating.
35. UPSOUND (English) ERC: “Please thank her for explaining the situation to me”
36. UPSOUND (English) ERC: “Tell them that we will work for peace and we will try to bring the help.”
37. Various shots, large IDP crowds
38. SOUNDBITE (English) Susan, Reproductive health specialist and protection officer with Nile Hope NGO
- “We have received a lot of sexual violence for women and young girls who went through a lot of sexual violence from those places the areas affected by the war.”
- Feeding is a problem, I will repeat this. There’s no feeding. There’s no drugs. There’s a high need of medication and feeding. And also some shelter too – they need shelter. For how long will they be in the church, in the schools? The schools are shut down because they have nowhere to stay. This is where they stay: the church and the schools. Those who are displaced; they have nowhere to go. The community houses are full.”
- “My message to the international community is that we need peace.”

UNDER A TREE - LOCATION CLOSE TO AKOBO AIRSTRIP.

39. Various shots, humanitarians meeting under a tree and informing the ERC of the main challenges they face
40. SOUNDBITE (English)  Susan, Reproductive health specialist and protection officer with Nile Hope NGO:
“People survive on this ‘lalob’, the leaves and the seeds. But there’s no funding, everybody here, this is a huge team, they can help the community but everything has been shut down. The hospital itself there’s no medication. Protection is zero.”
41. SOUNDBITE (English) Tom Fletcher, Emergency Relief Coordinator and UN Relief Chief [talking to humanitarians]: 
- “I know how the funding cuts are hitting you hard. You've described it, the projects that you're having to stop and the people that you're not able to help because of the cuts that we're facing. And I want to reassure you that I will take that message back to headquarters, to New York, to Geneva, to the capitals of the world, and make the case for the funding that we need.”
- “I know how hard it is to be a humanitarian right now. I know the pressures that you're facing and the physical danger that you are facing. The first rule of this work is do not attack humanitarians, do not kill humanitarians, and we will call on the world to do a better job at ending this impunity and giving you the protection that you deserve, and that you need to do the work on behalf of the world, because you are the people that go towards the danger in order to help the survivors. And we will not tolerate a world that does not protect you and does not protect this work.”

42. Various shots, ERC shaking hands with humanitarian staff
43. Various shots, ERC talking with a mother and her children.

20 FEBRUARY 2026, MALAKAL, UPPER NILE STATE

44. Driving shot, through Malakal Town

20 FEBRUARY 2026, BULUKAT TRANSIT CENTER (REFUGEES AND RETURNEES FROM SUDAN)

The Transit Center was established by the Upper Nile State government, in collaboration with UNHCR and IOM, in mid-2023 to provide life-saving assistance to refugees and returnees displaced by the Sudan crisis during their transit from Renk to their destinations. It currently holds 220 returnees (numbers have gone down significantly in recent months but could surge again) and refugees but has a capacity of 5,000. 

45. Various shots, ERC meeting with returnees, including Naketta Josephine.
46. SOUNDBITE (Local language) Naketta Josphine, 38 years old:
- “I’ve come from Sudan two years ago. We faced so much suffering on the way. There was killing, fighting, and rape. It was only safe once we arrived here.”
- “In Malakal, I have no place to go, and I cannot move anywhere. I lost my husband, and I am left alone to care for my children.”
- “What I am experiencing now feels like my life is going backwards. The situation is getting much worse.”
“My children don’t go to school. They were in a school in Sudan but here I don’t have money to enroll them.”
- “The only thing I seek is a future for my children.”

47. Various shots, inside Naketta Josephine’s shelter
48. Various shots, Bulukat

FORMER MALAKAL PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS (POC) SITE

In 2013, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) established Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites to shelter those fleeing violence. The Malakal PoC site transitioned from UNMISS control to the government of Upper Nile mid-February 2026. Originally intended for 18,000 people, the site currently hosts over 45,000 IDPs, most displaced during the early phases of the conflict. 
49. Various shots, ERC walking through the site

One of the site’s water points. Supported by the OCHA South Sudan Humanitarian Fund, water is pumped from the White Nile, treated, and supplied to 45,000 residents at the site.

50. Various shots, at the water point with women and children collecting water

51. SOUNDBITE (Local language) Marina Shol, mother of six, displaced since 2013:
- “We want to work, like we could do fishing, but it’s not safe to leave the site. We fear being attacked or raped if we go outside.”
- “When we came here, we thought the situation in Malakal would get better and we could return home. The real peace agreement has not been made so it’s not safe for us to go back.”
- “For me, what matters is that our country gets real peace and we end tribalism. And to have schools for our children and basic services. We were born in war, gave birth to our children in war, and we will die in war if peace is not implemented.”

52. Various shots, water point with ERC talking to Marina
53. Various shots, life in the camp
54. Various shots, Marina walking through the camp
55. Various shots, life in the camp
56. Various shots, ERC walking towards helicopter
57. Various shots, helicopter including aerial view of the former POC displacement site

Storyline
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, is currently in South Sudan to draw international attention to an acute and forgotten crisis. Fletcher travelled from Juba in Central Equatoria to Malakal in Upper Nile and onward to Jonglei, including Bor and Akobo, where a recent flare-up in conflict has further intensified humanitarian needs.

In Malakal, Fletcher visited Bulukat Transit Centre, which hosts returnees and refugees arriving from war-affected Sudan. He also met communities displaced at the former Protection of Civilians site, home to around 45,000 people, most of whom have lived in displacement for more than a decade. In Jonglei State’s Akobo, Fletcher met displaced families sheltering at an Episcopal church compound and visited Akobo Hospital, where doctors report rising caseloads alongside critical shortages of medicines and basic services as new arrivals continue to arrive.

In South Sudan, renewed violence, deepening hunger, and shrinking humanitarian support are converging into what aid workers describe as a “perfect storm.” Across the country, civilians are once again being displaced by escalating clashes, particularly in Upper Nile, Unity, and Jonglei states, where fighting since March 2025 has destroyed homes, health facilities, and schools, forcing families to flee in search of safety. Nearly two-thirds of the population, around 10 million people, now require humanitarian assistance as acute food insecurity, climate shocks, disease outbreaks, and years of unresolved political instability compound one another. More than 2.5 million people remain displaced, many for over a decade, trapped in cycles of repeated flight with little chance of durable recovery. At the same time, humanitarian operations are under growing strain: attacks on aid workers and severe funding cuts are limiting access just as needs are rapidly increasing.