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South Sudan sits at a critical crossroad, with swift action needed to quell chronic intercommunal clashes, ramp up assistance to ever more communities in need, and advance progress towards a durable peace, senior UN officials told the Security Council on Monday.

[…] This month, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) warned that armed forces were again mobilising in Upper Nile state, where artillery and rockets have pounded villages in major offensives involving thousands of troops. 

[…] The President [Salva Kiir] acknowledged some progress in the implementation of the Agreement but noted that subnational violence threatened the progress made.

South Sudan’s leaders must prioritize a peaceful transition as rampant sexual violence and attacks on civilians continue across the world’s youngest nation, the UN Commission investigating human rights abuses there said on Friday.

The number of civilians affected by violence in South Sudan increased sharply at the end of 2022, compared to both the previous quarter and the same period in 2021, the United Nations revealed.

The United Nations has finally agreed to provide South Sudan with technical assistance to hold elections in December 2024, even though doubts remain on whether the timelines are workable.

The Government of South Sudan, in its first ever briefing to the UN Peacebuilding Commission, outlined its priorities on Tuesday, addressing a host of recommendations from civil society speakers and UN officials.

[…] On August 4, 2022, parties to the September 2018 peace deal agreed to extend it for another 24 months starting in February 2023, when the original deal is expected to expire.

There has to be forward movement on at least four fronts as South Sudan enters “a critical year” with a sense of urgency essential maintains the senior United Nations (UN) representative in the landlocked east African country.

The head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Nicholas Haysom has expressed concerns over the spate of intercommunal fighting in several parts of the country, saying it could derail the ongoing peace process.