Bor — The Jonglei State Red Cross Society has begun a six-day training newly recruited volunteers on hygiene, sanitation and disaster management, the organisation's director, David Gai told Sudan Tribune on Thursday in Bor.

Students from Alliance High School, in a group photo at the Jonglei Red Cross office in Bor, November 4, 2012 (ST)

"We are training them on how they they will be able to able to our communities in a various ways of hygiene and related diseases," he said.

The director said this, the fourth, batch trained volunteers will be a vital resource to the South Sudan Red Cross once they have completed their training and been deployed to their communities.

South Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world, having seceded from Sudan last year after decades of civil war.

The young nation has some of the world's worst development indicators with over half under its estimated 10 million population living under the poverty line and average life expectancy at 62, according to World Bank data.