Africa

June 21, 2021 (NEW YORK) – The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is firmly committed to supporting elections in the East African nation, a top UN official in the country said Monday.

The head of UN mission in South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom (Getty)

Briefing the members of the Security Council in New York, Nicholas Hayson, the head of UNMISS, however, said the concerted efforts of the UN should be supported by all stakeholders in South Sudan.

“Equally important, as we move forward, is our partnership with the international community, especially the AU [African Union] and IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development],” he said.

The top UN official in the country acknowledged the slow progress in the overall implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

“The formation of the legislature remains incomplete. The constitution of the Council of States and the nomination of the legislative assembly speaker is pending. UNMISS continues to encourage the Government to complete these processes while ensuring adequate representation of women and youth at all levels,” he said.

Haysom expressed grave concern over the dire security situation in the young nation.

"I would like to highlight the pervasive insecurity, in particular intercommunal violence, which continues to obstruct the realization of a durable and sustainable peace in South Sudan. This year, more than 80 percent of civilian casualties were attributed to intercommunal violence and community-based militias," he said.

According to the top UN official, despite the efforts of UNMISS to maintain peace, weak or absent state governance institutions throughout South Sudan have enabled spoilers to exploit perennial communal and ethnic cleavages.

"Worryingly, weakened rule of law institutions and economic deterioration have led to increased criminality and targeting of humanitarian workers. This year alone, four humanitarian workers have been killed, and millions of dollars of humanitarian supplies looted or destroyed," stressed Hayson.

He added, "The callous and indiscriminate killing of humanitarian workers is deplorable, he added.

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June 21, 2021 (NEWYORK) - Vietam will continue to make positive contributions to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and increase the engagement of female officers in the mission, its envoy said.

A UN Security Council session on New York (UN photo)

Speaking at a UN Security Council's discussion on the situation in South Sudan and the operations of the UNMISS on Monday, Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy lauded the positive developments in South Sudan as the country prepares to celebrate10 years of its independence.

He appealed to the international community to recognise the progress so far made in the implementation of South Sudan peace agreement.

Quy, however, urged the government of South Sudan to take effective measures to deal with violence among communities, including solving the roots of the problem through dialogue and trust-building.

The Vietnamese diplomat called on the government of South Sudan and relevant parties to work together to implement resolutions of the UNSC on South Sudan, including Resolution 2577 aiming at the removal of the weapons embargo on the country.

Reports at the discussion showed the situation in South Sudan has seen positive developments since the beginning of 2021 with the implementation of a long-term ceasefire agreement and the formation of a transitional parliament. However, they said the implementation of the Peace Agreement 2018 has still remained slow with concern over economic and humanitarian crises in the country.

Vietnam joined the UN peacekeeping operations and dispatched representatives to the UNMISS in 2014. The Asian nation is deploying its third level-2 field hospital in Bentiu, South Sudan.

Founded in 2011, the UNMISS's mission is to consolidate peace and security and help establish conditions for development in South Sudan, strengthening the capacity of the government to govern effectively and democratically and establish good relations with its neighbours.

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June 21, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) led by Hadi Idris Monday rejected calls by some groups of the Sudan Call alliance to reform the ruling Force for Freedom and Change (FFC) pointing that it hampers efforts to consolidate the coalition.

On Sunday, some groups of the Sudan Call, the National Umma Party (NUP) and the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi held a meeting to discuss ways to reform the FFC.

NUP Secretary-General Wathiq Albrair stated that they would hold a founding conference for the FFC groups in line with the NUP efforts to reform the ruling coalition.

In response to the move, the SRF mainstream distanced itself from the Sunday meeting as Minnawi split from the peace signatory groups.

"The SRF affirms its commitment to its partnership with the FFC Central Council. This partnership has been included in the Juba Peace Agreement, which became part of the Constitutional Document," says a statement extended to the Sudan Tribune by the SRF Rapporteur Mohamed Zakaria.

"Also, the SRF confirms that the Sudan Call is an essential component of the FCC Central Council and considers that the recent meetings - involving some parties to the Sudan Call- violate the (alliance's) regulations and bar the way to develop the FFC. Further, (these steps) contribute to confusing the democratic transition and serve the enemies of the glorious Sudanese revolution," stressed the statement.

Since last year the NUP has been calling to reform the FFC current structures which give equal representation for the small and large political groups.

Some of these small groups imposed their members in the first transitional cabinet and hampered the agreed principle of a technocrat government. Nowadays, they oppose the government's economic policies.

On the other side, the NUP is accused of seeking to have Lion's share in the FFC leadership structures.

The divisions among political forces supporting Hamdok's government triggered several initiatives including one conducted by the SRF Hadi Idris.

Hamdok's initiative

The Sudanese Prime Minister, for his part, is expected to unveil a political initiative Tuesday to unify the political forces and consolidate the coalition o the transition forces.

A senior government official told Sudan Tribune on Monday that Hamdok's consultations with the political forces began several weeks ago. He added that the premier is seeking to establish a unified bloc, involving the military, to complete the transition agenda.

In a separate press statement, the cabinet said that Hamdok will announce a new national initiative on Tuesday.

"The initiative aims to unify the components of revolution and change, achieve comprehensive peace, enhance the democratic transition and expand its base," reads the statement.

A member of the FFC Central Council, Jaafar Hassan, told the Sudan Tribune that the Prime Minister held "positive meetings", with the FFC leadership in preparation for a political project labelled the "Transitional Bloc" that includes all parties to the revolution.

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Gloria Tumushabe is the founder of Afro Fem Coders which aims to teach Ugandan women how to code.

June 20, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - The Chairman of the Sovereign Council in Sudan, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, on Sunday issued a constitutional decree granting self-government powers for the Two Areas of the Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

The decision is in line with the terms of the Juba Peace Agreement signed between the government and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) on October 3, 2020.

"The President of the Sovereign Council issued a “constitutional decree establishing an administrative system for the Two Areas in accordance with the peace agreement,” reads a statement released by the Ministry of Local Government on Sunday.

The statement said that the Minister of Local Government Buthaina Ibrahim Dinar informed the states and the federal ministries of the decision.

"The Parties agree that without prejudice to the unity of Sudan's people and territory, the exclusive, joint or residual powers agreed upon in this Agreement, the Two Areas shall enjoy autonomy by which they shall exercise the powers stipulated in this Agreement", provides the Juba peace agreement on the system of governance in the Two Areas.

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South Sudan, the UN’s youngest Member State, is marking its tenth anniversary of independence amid languishing political progress and a range of humanitarian challenges, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told Security Council members on Monday.

June 20, 2021 (JUBA/ADDIS ABABA) - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) regional director for East and Horn of Africa, Mohammed Abdiker is in Juba, South Sudan on a six-day visit.

International Organization for Migration regional director for East and Horn of Africa, Mohammed Abdiker (Getty)

During his trip, Abdiker is scheduled to meet with government officials, international donors and the United Nations country team.

“Mr. Abdiker will also visit Wau in Western Bahr el Ghazal to assess IOM's humanitarian response in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps, including the Naivasha IDPs camp, and surrounding communities, as well as visit transition and recovery activities implemented by IOM for communities and returnees,” IOM said in a statement issued Monday.

The top IOM official is expected to brief journalists in Juba on Friday, June 25.

According to IOM, there are more than 1.7 million IDPs in South Sudan living in Protection of Civilians (PoC) site, IDP camps and in host communities.

The organisation said it seeks to work closely with authorities in the country to deliver programs across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus through an integrated, multi-sectoral approach whereby governance, migration management, and transition, recovery, and stabilization efforts complement humanitarian interventions across the country.

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June 20, 2021 (NAIROBI) - South Sudanese leaders should not sacrifice justice for a reconciliation likely to be short-term and inadequate in the absence of accountability, Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's Secretary General warned Monday

President Kiir shakes hands with his FVP Macahr in a recent meeting at the presidency (SSPPU photo)

In a letter to President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar, she urged both leaders to ensure that “survivors and victims of atrocities committed in South Sudan's conflict that broke out in December 2013 are given a comprehensive and holistic response to the harm they suffered, including truth and trials”.

On June 7, Callamard sent the letter privately first to the two leaders, five years after the New York Times ran an opinion article by the two leaders (later disowned by Machar) entitled “South Sudan Needs Truth, Not Trials” extolling the virtues of reconciliation over criminal prosecutions.

Heavy fighting broke out between forces loyal to Kiir and those loyal to Machar, killing hundreds of civilians, a day after the publication of the op-ed.

“Only a holistic process that caters to the diversity of victims and their multiples needs and desires, that guarantees non-recurrence of the violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and addresses a range of human rights, including the right to truth, the right to reparations and the right to justice, can bring an end to violations in South Sudan,” wrote Callamard.

Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in the South Sudan conflict, thousands subjected to rape and other sexual violence, and millions have been displaced from their homes, their villages burnt and pillaged.

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The citizens of the Central African Republic (CAR) have endured decades of war and conflict. Merveille Yayoro, a young reporter at Guira-FM, the radio station run by the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MINUSCA), says that she wants her work to provide an antidote to hate speech and misinformation, and help bring about a lasting peace.

Civilians continue to flee armed conflict and insecurity in northern Mozambique, more than two months after militants attacked the coastal city of Palma, located in Cabo Delgado province, UN agencies reported on Friday. 

The head of the World Food Programme (WFP) appealed on Thursday for immediate access to deliver lifesaving assistance to Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where ongoing fighting between government and regional forces has put some 350,000 people at risk of famine.  

The international community must stay focused on achieving justice and peace for the people of Darfur, the outgoing Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the Security Council on Wednesday. 

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners are working to restore water supply to roughly 200,000 people, including some 100,000 children, affected by the volcanic eruption last month in Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 

Attacks by armed groups including Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province pose grave threats to Central Africa’s fragile stability, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council on Monday, while spotlighting crucial democratic gains that must be protected.

Communities in rural Burkina Faso urgently need greater protection from violent extremists, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, insisted on Monday, in response to a deadly assault at the weekend that claimed the lives of at least 132 innocent people.

A Ugandan woman entrepreneur who was left with just a wheelbarrow and a red dress, when a business partner ran off with all her money has been recognized with an award by the UN trade agency (UNCTAD) after she grew her company into a nationwide enterprise with five million customers.

Critical health facilities across Africa risk being overwhelmed by surging COVID-19 infections, the UN health agency said on Thursday.

A UN independent human rights expert said on Wednesday that Mali’s new military authorities should “scrupulously respect human rights” and release all leaders detained in last week’s coup. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to investigate recent deadly attacks by insurgents in the east and bring the perpetrators to account. 

More than one million people in two areas of the war-ravaged Tigray region in Ethiopia have received emergency food assistance since distributions began in March, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Tuesday.