Authorities operating childcare centers for returnees in Renk County of Upper Nile State complained of lack of food and basic services at the centers and complainted of escaping children.

Mama Seppi, head of the childcare department at the county ministry of social welfare, said that the centers suffer from food shortages amid sharp decline in the number of play areas.

She explained that UNICEF in solidarity with the Ministry of Social Welfare had opened childcare centers for southern returning from the North in Renk County, but the centers are suffering from lack of food and the basic services, which caused children to escape from the centers, this coupled with the lack of toys at the centers.

Seppi indicated that the majority of children in the centers have either lost their fathers or their mothers so she warned of worsening conditions for the children. She appealed to the concerned authorities at Malakal the capital of Upper Nile state to be aware of their role to save the childcare centers.