Aid work in South Sudan: How OCHA chief steers aid through conflict

Editor's note: This is the first story in CGTN's series documenting the experiences of humanitarian workers around the world, exploring the challenges they face, the people they serve and what keeps them going in some of the world's most difficult environments.

Before David Carden sat down for an interview about South Sudan's humanitarian crisis, he had been out in the field, visiting a drought-affected community where crops had failed and a river had dried up.

His visit came amid mounting humanitarian challenges in a country where a fragile peace has come under renewed strain. Fighting between government and opposition forces has intensified since 2025, further undermining the 2018 peace agreement. Armed clashes, including in Jonglei and Upper Nile states, have displaced more than 2.5 million people and complicated humanitarian access across the country, as South Sudan prepares for general elections scheduled for December 2026.

But conflict is only part of the challenge. In Lafon, in Eastern Equatoria State, Carden saw the effects of successive climate shocks: farmland damaged by floods late last year, crops destroyed by drought and water sources that had dried up. Local authorities reported rising malnutrition and deaths in recent months.

For Carden, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in South Sudan, such visits are part of a job that rarely follows a predictable schedule.

"They come up all the time," he said of emergencies that disrupt planned engagements. Humanitarian workers, he added, must remain flexible and ready to respond as needs arise.

Yet it is not only the scale of suffering that has shaped his experience in the country. Asked what keeps him motivated, Carden pointed to something less easily captured in humanitarian statistics: the resilience of the people he meets.

"When you talk to the communities themselves, they are incredibly resilient in very difficult circumstances," he said, describing how families continue to care for one another and neighbors support each other despite hardship.

That determination, he said, is humbling. With appropriate assistance and greater security, he believes, communities can rebuild their lives.

Negotiating a way through

The work behind humanitarian assistance can be less visible than the aid itself. In South Sudan, where access to affected communities can depend on negotiations with different authorities and armed actors, getting help to people often requires painstaking coordination.

Carden cited the crisis in Akobo, a border town in Jonglei State near Ethiopia, as an example of how quickly humanitarian operations can be disrupted – and how difficult it can be to get them back on track. The town had become a place of refuge for people fleeing conflict elsewhere in northern Jonglei. Many chose to go there because the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), whose peacekeepers had maintained a protective presence in Akobo, provided physical protection for civilians, he said.

But the situation took a dramatic turn in March, when government forces ordered civilians, UN peacekeepers and humanitarian organizations to leave ahead of planned military operations. Humanitarian groups withdrew, and Akobo hospital and other humanitarian facilities were looted, resulting in the loss of medical supplies and other resources. As control of the town shifted between government and opposition forces, aid agencies faced further uncertainty over how to reach people in need.

For Carden, the loss of humanitarian assets was particularly frustrating because aid organizations had only just scaled up their support.

The challenge was then to get humanitarian partners back into the area. More than 300,000 people were displaced in May, including people who crossed into Ethiopia, Carden said. OCHA worked to facilitate the return of aid organizations, which were able to provide food, health and nutrition assistance to more than 100,000 returnees within three weeks.

The return required navigating a shifting military and political landscape. Akobo moved from opposition to government control and then back to opposition control, Carden said, meaning humanitarian agencies had to engage with different parties to secure access. Even after partners returned, field teams had to sustain operations under difficult conditions, with field workers remaining in the area for two or three months to support the delivery of assistance.

For Carden, the principle guiding such efforts is straightforward: humanitarian assistance should go to the most vulnerable, regardless of where they live or which side controls the territory. Putting that principle into practice, however, can mean negotiating access repeatedly as circumstances change.

The obstacles extend beyond shifts in territorial control. Field teams encounter checkpoint extortion, bureaucratic restrictions, robberies and, in some cases, abductions. Problems that cannot be resolved locally may require intervention from senior officials in Juba.

Carden said the key to overcoming these challenges is to build trust with the different parties involved, making clear that "our sole purpose is to deliver assistance in line with the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality."

"They need to understand that we have a humanitarian mandate," he said.

The people who stay

Carden's reflections extend beyond the communities receiving assistance to the colleagues delivering it.

He said South Sudanese humanitarian workers continue working despite security risks, even as some have family members living in neighboring countries because of insecurity at home. They remain willing to travel to areas where needs are greatest, he said.

Their commitment has left a strong impression on him.

The experience has also reinforced his belief that humanitarian aid alone cannot provide a lasting solution. Communities cannot recover and rebuild while they remain exposed to violence and displacement, he said, urging political leaders to continue working to de-escalate tensions and pursue peace.

In Bentiu and Malakal, Carden said, humanitarian partners are also working to help people who have spent years in camp settings find more lasting solutions. Livelihood support and opportunities to move to other areas in safety could help them rebuild more productive lives, he added.

He described progress on these efforts as slow and complicated, but believes they could make a significant difference to people's lives.

For a humanitarian coordinator, success is not simply measured by how much aid is delivered. It also means helping create the conditions in which people no longer need emergency assistance to survive.

In a country where crises repeatedly interrupt daily life, Carden's account returns to the people who continue to care for their families, support their neighbors and deliver assistance despite the risks.

Their resilience, he said, is what keeps him motivated.