Aid worker returns to base where he hid from bullets

An aid worker has returned to the base where he was once caught up in a terrifying three-day military coup.

Shaun Hughes from Gloucestershire is back in South Sudan to coordinate the UN World Food Programme's aid for thousands of families pouring over the border from neighbouring Sudan.

More than 4.5 million refugees – mostly women and children – have fled to neighbouring countries to escape Sudan since civil war erupted between rival government forces in April 2023.

For World Humanitarian Day, on 19 August, Mr Hughes shared details of his riskiest experience to date.

"The most dangerous situation I've been in was South Sudan in 2016 when the peace agreement broke down and fighting erupted here in the capital Juba," he said.

"Bullets were coming into the side of the bunker we were hunkered down in.

"There was no rescue or bust out – after three days, the government got the upper-hand, the opposition forces retreated, and we emerged to provide humanitarian support for those affected."

Mr Hughes, from Stonehouse near Stroud, said that his family's support of his work really helped him to cope.

The UK is the third largest humanitarian donor to Sudan.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced an additional £120m for this financial year to support more than 650,000 people affected by the conflict.

Minister for development Baroness Chapman said World Humanitarian Day was a time to "celebrate brave and inspiring humanitarian workers across the world".

"These remarkable people do untold good in places like Gaza, Myanmar and Sudan where hideous preventable conflict costs an obscene loss of life," she said.

"What aid workers do for humanity needs to be recognised and celebrated."

She said the government, alongside its work to provide support to people in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, would on Tuesday be awarding 100 more workers with the Humanitarian Medal "for their efforts to alleviate suffering in Gaza".

"Our funding to the world's worst humanitarian crises is delivering real hope on the ground," Baroness Chapman added.

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