Südsudan

Kenya this week took over the mediation role in talks between the government of South Sudan and the holdout groups that did not sign the 2018 peace agreement.

In August 2022, South Sudan’s transitional government extended its term to February 2025, with elections planned for December 2024. The extension would allow time for ironing out challenges in implementing the country’s 2018 peace agreement, which had initially scheduled polls for December 2022. Since signing the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan in 2018, every milestone in the accord has been delayed, with dire consequences for South Sudan’s stability and its people.

In August 2022, South Sudan’s transitional government extended its term to February 2025, with elections planned for December 2024. The extension would allow time for ironing out challenges in implementing the country’s 2018 peace agreement, which had initially scheduled polls for December 2022. Since signing the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan in 2018, every milestone in the accord has been delayed, with dire consequences for South Sudan’s stability and its people.

South Sudan is not yet ready to hold credible elections in 2024, a senior United Nations official said today, as the Security Council examined the recent developments in that country, including implementation of the 2018 peace agreement and the dire humanitarian situation exacerbated by the influx of people fleeing the conflict in Sudan.

The cabinet has decided that, following the withdrawal in 2016, up to 20 German police officers can now be deployed in South Sudan again.

Hundreds of former rebels and government troops in South Sudan's unified forces were deployed at a long-overdue ceremony on Wednesday, marking progress for the country's lumbering peace process.

South President Salva Kiir has reiterated his administration’s commitment to free and fair elections come 2024 at the end of the transitional period. He was on Thursday meeting the US Ambassador to Juba, Michael J. Adler in his office.

The World Health Organization warns that soaring rates of severe malnutrition, acute hunger, and deteriorating health conditions are threatening the lives and well-being of millions of people in South Sudan with the situation set to worsen as the climate crisis kicks in.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir is in Moscow for bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart, his office said on Wednesday. The minister for the Presidency, Barnaba Marial Benjamin said Kiir will discuss the peace implementation process and preparations for the 2024 elections.

As South Sudan prepares to hold its first-ever elections in December, resolving critical outstanding issues requires political will for compromise, the UN envoy to the country said on Friday.