South Sudan

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has not been immune. The peacekeeping mission implemented strong prevention measures well before COVID-19 arrived in the country. Despite that – like everywhere else in the world – our personnel have contracted the virus, and six have sadly lost their lives. UNMISS is working in partnership with the Government of South Sudan in the national-led response.

As hunger levels continue to deepen in South Sudan due to a combination of violence, climate change and COVID-19, the 2021 South Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan was launched on Tuesday aiming to reach 6.6 million people – including 350,000 refugees - with life-saving assistance and protection.

South Sudanese civilians are caught in a perfect storm of ongoing suffering and misery.  The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan reports the country's humanitarian crisis is being exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and floods, as well as the highest levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in a decade. This, on top of escalating violence and rampant human rights violations.    

The United Nations Security Council on Monday extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until March 15, 2022 after the unanimous adoption of resolution 2567 (2021).

South Sudan is highly vulnerable to climate change, including flooding, droughts and, most recently, a locust infestation. Long-term climate change, like a gradual increase in temperature, and short-term changes, like increased flooding, have indirect and interlinked implications for peace and security in South Sudan.

[…] “Because of the collective efforts of so many…South Sudan is in a better state”, the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), David Shearer, said in his last briefing, after serving as Special Representative for four years.  However, he stated that “it is inching forward – frustratingly slowly – with still so much to do”. 

At least 357,450 South Sudanese refugees have returned home from countries within the region since November 2017, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

Extreme violence and attacks involving thousands of fighters at a time have engulfed more than three-quarters of South Sudan, UN human Rights Council-appointed investigators said on Friday, warning that the bloodshed faced by civilians are “the worst recorded” since the country’s civil war began in December 2013.

Ten years after independence, South Sudan is faring poorly, beleaguered by political and socio-economic ills. The civil war’s two main antagonists have an uneasy peace, but others fight on. The country needs a reset rooted in power sharing and devolution of authority from the centre.