Security Council Press Statement on South Sudan

[sudan]

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Raimonda Murmokaité (Lithuania):
On 14 May, the members of the Security Council were briefed by Special Representative of the Secretary-General Ellen Margrethe L?j on the situation in South Sudan.
The members of the Security Council expressed condemnation at the renewed and ongoing large-scale violence in Unity State caused by the recent Government of South Sudan offensive and resulting in the displacement of more than 100,000 civilians and the suspension of nearly all activity and delivery of aid to populations in the affected areas, over 300,000 civilians, by humanitarian agencies and organizations. The members of the Security Council further expressed their condemnation of the large-scale attack initiated on 15 May by the SPLM/A (in Opposition) on the town of Malakal, in Upper Nile State.
The members of the Security Council underlined their grave concern that as a result of violence and increased insecurity since the beginning of the conflict, more than 50,000 internally displaced persons have sought shelter and assistance at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) camp in Bentiu, and an additional nearly 25,000 at the UNMISS camp in Malakal, only further magnifying a dire humanitarian crisis.
The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the repeated violations of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement accepted and signed by the Republic of South Sudan and the SPLM/A (in Opposition) on 23 January 2014, and underscored that there is no military solution to this conflict that has now lasted more than 17 months.
The members of the Security Council called upon all parties to engage meaningfully in the peace process so as to bring about a political solution to the crisis and an end to the conflict. They acknowledged the IGAD-led peace process and urged renewed regional and international efforts to swiftly implement a common plan and to table a reasonable and comprehensive solution to end the crisis in South Sudan. In this context, they reiterated their willingness to impose sanctions against those who threaten the peace, security, or stability of South Sudan as established in resolution 2206 (2015), and noted the 24 March 2015 African Union Peace and Security Council Communiqué on South Sudan and the 12 May 2015 African Union Commission Chairperson’s Statement on South Sudan in this regard.
The members of the Security Council reiterated their full support for UNMISS peacekeepers and for the vital mandate they are performing under very difficult conditions, including to protect civilians in South Sudan. They demanded that all parties end intimidation and harassment against UNMISS and humanitarian personnel, cease ongoing restrictions on freedom of movement, and allow UNMISS to fully implement its mandate. They further demanded full adherence to the Status of Forces Agreement and permission for the deployment of essential assets and enablers currently being blocked by the Government of South Sudan. The members of the Security Council underscored the importance of close cooperation and communication between UNMISS and the Government in addressing these issues.
The members of the Security Council condemned, and reiterated their demand for an immediate end to, all human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. They reiterated that those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights must be held accountable and that the Government of South Sudan bears the primary responsibility to protect civilians within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, including from potential crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Security Council renewed its calls for the parties to the conflict to allow and facilitate the full, safe and unhindered access of humanitarian personnel, equipment and supplies to all those in need and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance in accordance with relevant provisions of international law and United Nations guiding principles of humanitarian assistance.

 

[waltky]

Both factions usin' child soldiers...

S Sudanese rivals using children as ‘cannon fodder’
Wed, Dec 16, 2015 - More than a dozen senior commanders and officials who children say recruited them as soldiers in South Sudan should be investigated, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

The UN says 16,000 children have joined armed groups since South Sudan’s civil war erupted two years ago. “It’s the brutal recruitment that is the most heart wrenching,” Skye Wheeler, the report’s author, told reporters. “Forces come through their village and grab them and force them into fighting. It’s an absolute negation of their basic rights as children, but also as people, not to be treated just as cannon fodder.”

South Sudan was plunged into a civil war in December 2013 when a political crisis triggered fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebels allied with former vice president Riek Machar. The conflict has reopened ethnic faultlines that pit Kiir’s Dinka people against Machar’s ethnic Nuer people. A peace deal was signed in August, but the two sides have repeatedly accused each other of violations. A third of 74 boys interviewed who fought in the current conflict said they were forcibly recruited, often at gunpoint.

Many said they were detained until they agreed to fight or simply abducted, handed a gun and sent into battle. “I had no experience of holding a gun before,” said one boy in the report, who said he was abducted from school by opposition forces. “They told us this is how you use it... Then we began fighting.” About half of the boys interviewed said they willingly joined armed groups to protect themselves and their communities. About half also said they fought or worked for government forces or their allies.

S Sudanese rivals using children as ‘cannon fodder’ - Taipei Times

 

[waltky]

So. Sudan asking for funds to recover from civil war...

International Funding Needed to Rescue South Sudan's Economy
April 28, 2016 — Two and a half years of civil war have destroyed South Sudan’s economy. The country's leaders now say they need urgent international support to rebuild the country and restore peace.

When South Sudan gained independence in 2011, its oil wealth made its government one of the richest in East Africa. But now, after more than two years of war, it is among the poorest. Fighting has cut oil production in half, while crude prices worldwide have collapsed. The South Sudanese pound has lost almost 90 percent of its value, and inflation is skyrocketing. President Salva Kiir and former rebel leader Riek Machar are meant to form a transitional government this week aimed at ending the war. But there is not enough money to keep the new government going.

‘Abnormal conditions’

Professor Marial Awou, an economics professor at the University of Juba, says the new government will need direct budget support to stay afloat. "We are in extraordinary conditions, abnormal conditions. Under normal conditions you will leave the country to take care of its budget, but we are coming out of the war, we are settling people, we are setting up institutions, so it needs abnormal resources," Awou said.

A tailor works in the bustling Konyo Konyo market in Juba, South Sudan​

Kiir and Machar are asking the international community, including the International Monetary Fund, to help with such resources. Whether budget support arrives depends partly on the decision of foreign donors like the United States, Britain, and Norway. Those three countries say they will support the transitional government, but they are wary of corruption and funds being used to fuel more fighting. In the last two years, South Sudan slashed its health and education budgets while spending massively on weapons. Doctors are on strike because they haven't been paid in months. Public clinics have no medicine.

Big changes, controls needed

British Ambassador to South Sudan Tim Morris said foreign donors need to see big changes in how the country's finances are managed. "If this country is to attract a substantive international package, it has to implement policies of reform, otherwise the IMF, the international financial community simply cannot engage," Morris said. Morris added there will be no lump sums of cash given, and any spending must be tightly controlled. He warned that for now, Britain will not support the military, South Sudan's largest employer, given human rights abuses during the war. Morris also cautioned that foreign nations are stretched insofar as how much money they can spend on South Sudan. "Funds are very limited globally. This is not just a question of a figure being identified and satisfied. It is a question of a process, and it will be a period of austerity and my prediction, I think all our predictions, is that the transitional government will have a difficult job in this," Morris said.

Some optimism, some skepticism