This update concerns the situation of Congolese refugees and asylum seekers in countries in the region.

825,002
Total number of refugees and asylum-seekers from the DRC.

4.5 M
Internally displaced people (as at December 2017)
Source: OCHA

1.1 M
Planning figure of DRC refugees by December 2019.

51
Total number of Congolese refugees assisted to return in 2018

BASIC INFORMATION POPULATION FIGURES

The figures in this report were updated to reflect the results of continuous biometric registration and verification exercises in countries of asylum.

The figures include additions (new arrivals and births) and subtractions (departures, deaths, no-shows during food distributions and deactivations). 2019-2020 RRRP

UNHCR together with 56 humanitarian and development partners launched the 2019-2020 Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) on 11 December 2018 for US$743 million to help respond to the needs of Congolese refugees in Africa.
FUNDING

UNHCR received $10.6 million for the DRC situation, representing only 3 per cent of the total requirements for 2019, which amount to $ 414.9 million.

The interagency 2019-2020 Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) for the DRC situation received $13 million, representing only 2 per cent of the total requirements for 2019, which amount to $ 743 million.

This update concerns the situation of Congolese refugees and asylum seekers in countries in the region.

As of 31 January 2019, 825,002 Congolese refugees are being hosted in African countries. In January 2019 alone, some 6,318 Congolese fled to neighboring countries, with a particularly significant increase in refugee flows to Uganda, Zambia and Kenya.

UNHCR together with 56 humanitarian and development partners launched the 2019-2020 Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) on 11 December 2018 for US$743 million to help respond to the needs of Congolese refugees in Africa.

Regional Highlights and Operational Context

• A total of 825,002 Congolese refugees and asylum-seekers are being hosted in countries in Africa, which have generously maintained an open door policy in granting asylum to old and new asylum seekers.

• UNHCR and UNDP have come together to address both the short-term impacts of displacement on host communities and the long-term needs of refugees who cannot go back home. Within the framework of the 2019-2020 Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) for the DRC situation, the two UN agencies published on January 16, 2019 a booklet highlighting joint humanitarian-development programming initiatives which are being designed and implemented by UNHCR and UNDP teams to build the resilience in areas hosting Congolese refugees, returnees and other displaced populations of concern. Further, these will set the foundation for joint programming with all RRRP partners: regionally, nationally and with the concerned populations themselves, in order to support an environment conducive for protection and durable solutions.

Overview

This Weekly Bulletin focuses on selected acute public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 60 events in the region. This week’s edition covers key new and ongoing events, including:

• Plague in Uganda
  
• Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  
• Hepatitis in Namibia
  
• Lassa fever in Nigeria.

For each of these events, a brief description, followed by public health measures implemented and an interpretation of the situation is provided.

A table is provided at the end of the bulletin with information on all new and ongoing public health events currently being monitored in the region, as well as recent events that have largely been controlled and thus closed.

Major issues and challenges include:

• The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues, with the prevailing insecurity and community mistrust posing significant challenges to the response efforts. Deeper engagement and involvement of the communities in the ongoing response is critical as well as ensuring the safety of patients and the response staff.

• Namibia has been experiencing an outbreak of hepatitis E since September 2017. While good progress has been made to lower the incidence of the disease, the ongoing response measures have not been able to interrupt further transmission. The outbreak has now affected eight out of 14 regions in the country. Lately, the Minister of Health and Social Services has renewed efforts to control the outbreak. However, to turn this proclamation into tangible actions on the ground requires commitments and resources. All key stakeholders, including the national authorities, partners and the community are urged to embrace the renewed efforts to bring this outbreak to an end. the national authorities, partners and the community are urged to embrace the renewed efforts to bring this outbreak to an end.

I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2406 (2018), by which the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until 15 March 2019 and, in accordance with prior resolutions, requested me to report on the implementation of the mandate every 90 days. It covers political and security developments between 1 December 2018 and 26 February 2019, the humanitarian and human rights situation, and progress in the implementation of the Mission mandate. The report also provides recommendations for the renewal of the UNMISS mandate.

II. Political and economic developments

2. During the reporting period, the South Sudanese parties made modest progress in implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. The permanent ceasefire was upheld in most parts of the country and confidence-building among the parties continued. Military commanders engaged in local rapprochement efforts, while local authorities and communities held peace celebrations in several locations. Activities to implement the Revitalized Agreement continued to focus, however, only on procedural issues, and timelines to meet the political and security benchmarks of the pre-transition period have slipped.

Implementation of the Revitalized Agreement

3. The pre-transitional period is in its fifth month, with three months remaining before the beginning of the transitional period, according to the Revitalized Agreement. A number of opposition leaders have returned to Juba or visit frequently, including the deputy chair of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in Opposition, Henry Odwar; the head of the SPLM/A in Opposition security committee, Angelina Teny; the leader of SPLM “Former Detainees”, Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior; the chair of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance, Gabriel Changson Chang; the chair of the National Democratic Movement, Lam Akol Ajawin; the former Secretary-General of the Jieng Council of Elders, Ustaz Lewis Anei Madut; and other opposition officials. To facilitate the return of the opposition leaders, the National Pre-Transitional Committee arranged for security and accommodation for returning opposition representatives.

4. The opposition leaders have been participating in meetings of the implementation organs for the peace agreement together with representatives of the incumbent Transitional Government of National Unity and other political groups. The President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, members of the Government and several opposition leaders have made statements of commitment to the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement at public events to celebrate the return of peace.

5. Deliberations in the implementation bodies remained focused on meeting procedures, budgetary matters and work planning, with modest progress being made on substantive matters. Discussions concerning incorporation of the Revitalized Agreement into the Transitional Constitution remained overshadowed by disputes over the adoption of a decentralized or devolved system of governance. Following a decision by the reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, issued upon a request from the parties that the provision in question should state that the country is governed on the basis of a “decentralized democratic system” and should impose a duty on the Transitional Government to “devolve more powers and resources to the states and lower forms of government as shall be agreed by the parties”, on 24 January the chair of the National Constitutional Amendment Committee submitted a draft constitutional amendment bill containing that provision to the Minister of Justice. On 14 February, the Council of Ministers approved the draft bill and recommended its transmission to the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, but the opposition expressed significant misgivings in respect of these procedures.

6. The Technical Boundary Committee, composed of members appointed by countries of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the troika and supported by an international expert appointed by the United Nations, convened its first meeting in Juba on 6 December. The Committee is mandated to define, within 60 days, the tribal areas of South Sudan as they stood on 1 January 1956, and report to the IGAD mediation process. The Committee has engaged with stakeholders to solicit their views and has also received submissions from representatives of the various communities. The Independent Boundaries Commission is yet to be formed.

7. Talks on transitional security arrangements and defence and security reform made limited progress, focusing on short-term measures of cantonment and sustainment. The Joint Defence Board agreed to a pilot assembly and training site near Kajo Kaji, Central Equatoria, for a total of 3,000 troops (1,000 each from the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), SPLM/A in Opposition and the South Sudan Opposition Alliance). On 3 February, the Board agreed to establish 25 cantonments sites. The remaining sites will be established in the second phase, for a total of 40 sites. The schedule and other details of the pilot site remain unconfirmed. The Board also decided to undertake a series of familiarization visits to Yei, Akobo, Yirol, Wau, Bor and Raja. Plans for a professionalized, unified national army and comprehensive security and defence sector reforms are yet to be presented for consideration.

8. The Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism met regularly to discuss adherence by the parties to the permanent ceasefire and transitional security arrangements. The parties agreed to enhance local trust-building at the field commander level. On 18 December, in a serious violation of the Revitalized Agreement, government officials assaulted, detained and abused members of the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism team in Luri, Central Equatoria. The attack was broadly condemned by regional and international partners and the Government has initiated an investigation into the incident.

Excellencies, distinguished panelists and participants,

I wish to thank the Governments of Liechtenstein, Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Kenya and the Netherlands for inviting me as a panelist in this important subject.

After much neglect and indifference, the world is waking up to the reality of a modern form of slavery. Today, there is greater global recognition that many armed groups and terrorist organizations are using sexual violence to advance core strategic and ideological objectives. This includes raising revenue through the sale, trade and trafficking of women and children for purposes of sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery, forced marriage, forced prostitution and forced pregnancy. The promise of ‘wives’ or sex slaves has also become a powerful incentive in the recruitment and retention of young men to their cause.

Indeed, this is a modern manifestation of slavery which is on the rise in numerous conflicts. I have witnessed this first-hand in a number of the situations monitored under the auspices of my mandate:

Last year, in Iraq, I met with many survivors of sexual violence, including from the Yezidi community, who were former captives of ISIS. Over the past few years reporting by my Office has put a spotlight on the open slave markets in Raqqa, Syria, and exposed price lists and so-called Fatwas which regulate the sale, transfer and trafficking of sex slaves. Online sales platforms indicated how enslaved women and girls are being traded for cigarettes or sold for up to $25,000, as an integral part of the political-economy of conflict and violent extremism.

In July 2017, in Nigeria, I met with the Chibok girls as well as other survivors of Boko Haram. These girls were not “abducted” or “kidnapped”. They were enslaved. My meetings with survivors helped me to better understand that Boko Haram’s fighters do not “capture” people: their standard procedure whenever they raid a village is to kill the men and treat women and children as booty of war, to be bargained over and sold for profit.

In May 2018, in Southern Unity South Sudan, 132 women and girls were abducted and sexually enslaved. In another incident in October in Western Equatoria, 505 women and 63 girls were abducted for the purpose of sexual slavery.

Internally displaced populations, refugees and migrants fleeing conflict or passing through conflict zones also face huge risks, such as in Libya and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. While I was in Niger last year, I met refugee women, girls and men trafficked through Libya, who, devastated by sexual violence and stigma, had nowhere to go even after finally receiving protection.

In 2017 and 2018, I met with Rohingya women and girls devastated by brutal sexual violence in Myanmar, and now also acutely vulnerable to trafficking including for sexual exploitation and prostitution in the camps in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh.

Essentially, these examples show that trafficking and sexual violence, including sexual slavery are not just incidental or opportunistic, but systematic, institutionalized and strategic. Dealing with such a widespread phenomenon requires a concerted global response that is gender-sensitive, survivor-centered and human rights-based.

Therefore, I wish to offer five recommendations to inform our collective response:

1.We must ensure that the root causes of trafficking in women and girls are addressed in all trafficking prevention efforts and responses, including structural gender-based discrimination as one of the main drivers;
2. Although most countries have criminalized human trafficking, the rate of convictions remains far too low, and victims are not always receiving the protection and services countries are obligated to provide. Therefore, prosecution is required as an integral aspect of prevention. This will be the only way to convert cultures of impunity into cultures of accountability and deterrence.
3. We must ensure comprehensive and multi-dimensional services for survivors, including medical and psychosocial care, as well as family tracing and reunification, reparations and financial and livelihood assistance;
4. We must strengthen international cooperation and information exchange among Member States, including through bilateral and regional agreements informed by civil society and victims associations, in order to identify victims; judicial cooperation for accountablity; and stemming financial flows from human trafficking networks;
5. And finally, in the context of the work of the UN Security Council, I encourage the inclusion of the issue of trafficking in persons for the purposes of sexual slavery and exploitation as a criterion for sanctions, building on the recent designation of 6 traffickers under the Libya sanctions regime. Ladies and gentlemen,

Nadia Murad, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate – a young Yezidi woman who was enslaved and raped by ISIL terrorists after they destroyed her village and killed members of her family, reminds us that we must always listen to the people who have been harmed by the crimes we seek to stop, that their testimonies can inform and strengthen our responses, to improve prevention and protect victims.

I urge all governments to heed Nadia’s call.

Women and girls cannot be reduced to a “currency” in the political economy of armed conflict and terrorism. They cannot be bartered, traded, trafficked or ransomed, because their human, sexual and reproductive rights are non-negotiable.

Thank you.

Monday, 11 March 2019

Key Messages

January marked a timely to slightly early onset of seasonal rains in parts of Ethiopia’s Belg-dependent cropping zones and the western sector of East Africa.

Meanwhile, much of the eastern Horn remained typically dry with exceptionally hotter-than-normal day and night land surface temperatures. However, localized areas of eastern Kenya and southern Somalia experienced light to moderate rainfall amounts in the past week.

The rainfall outlook through March 13 depicts an increased likelihood for continued above-average to average seasonal rainfall over Tanzania as well as the establishment of rainfall in the western sector and Belg-dependent areas. There is increased flood risk in Tanzania’s coastal regions and around the Lake Victoria basin region of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Seasonal Progress

In early to late February, the onset of the March to May seasonal rains gradually began and spread northwards from Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda into the Lake Victoria environs and Ethiopia’s Belg cropping zones. This marked a timely to slightly early onset of the cropping season in these areas. According to CHIRPS preliminary satellite-derived data, rainfall accumulation was varied (Figure 1). In Burundi, Rwanda, and western Uganda, amounts were slightly below average. However, the rainfall amounts (>20mm) were sufficient to trigger land preparation and early crop planting. In parts of southeastern and northern Uganda and parts of Ethiopia’s Belg-dependent areas (SNNP, Gambela, Oromia, and Amhara), rainfall ranged from 10 to 100mm above average. In Kenya, there were incidences of well above-average rainfall amounts (>300 percent of average) that led to reports of localized flooding around the Lake Victoria region. In Tanzania, the progression of the Msimu season in February was characterized by above-average accumulation the south and northwest.

Meanwhile, the eastern Horn remained typically dry, but with significantly hotter-than-normal land surface temperatures throughout February. Day and night-time temperatures were generally exceptionally high in eastern South Sudan and eastern Ethiopia, Somalia, and much of Kenya. In parts of eastern South Sudan, day-time temperatures slightly exceeded 40 C°, while night-time temperatures hovered at 34-36 C°. Day-time temperatures ranged from 32 to 38 C° in the rest of the eastern Horn, resulting into rapid depletion of surface water pans and deterioration of pasture and browse for livestock. Field reports indicate increasing human-wildlife and resource-based conflicts, and there are extensive, on-going wildfires around the Mt. Kenya region.

According to the eMODIS/Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), vegetation conditions are significantly drier-than-normal across much of the eastern Horn as well as in parts of northern and eastern South Sudan, the southwestern and Rift Valley regions of Ethiopia, northeastern Tanzania, and Uganda. However, it should be noted that the recent rains in February are likely to result in gradual improvements in vegetation condition in Uganda, South Sudan, and Belg cropping zones of Ethiopia. In addition, localized areas in eastern Kenya and southern Somalia received unseasonal rains in February that may mitigate current deterioration. Still, much of eastern Horn is likely to remain drier-than-normal until the full onset of the March-May/April-June rains. In contrast, near-average vegetation is expected to continue in most of Tanzania due to the favorable Msimu rains, apart from localized rainfall-deficit areas.

Recent and on-going field crop assessment reports are indicative of good cropping conditions across Tanzania. However, drought conditions have affected marginal cropping zones in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) and much of Somalia, following the below-average Deyr/short-rains and prevailing hotter-than-normal temperatures.

FACTS & FIGURES

6.17 million people suffering from severe food shortages

2.2 million South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries

1.9 million internally displaced people

More than 115 aid workers killed since December 2013

EU humanitarian funding: €45 million in South Sudan and €47.3 million in neighbouring countries in 2018

Introduction

A new peace deal signed in September 2018 has curbed fighting and brings hope of an end to the five-year civil war that ravaged South Sudan. Meanwhile, the security situation remains volatile and seven million people still need urgent humanitarian assistance. More than six million people face severe food shortages. This man-made crisis has wide-reaching consequences for neighbouring countries where 2.2 million South Sudanese have taken refuge.

What are the needs?

Years of conflict and economic collapse have caused mass displacement and immeasurable distress among the civilian population. Widespread destruction has ruined livelihoods and local trade, leaving nearly 6 out of 10 people suffer from severe food shortages. Healthcare and education are in tatters with an estimated 80 percent of South Sudan's counties lacking adequate health services. This is especially worrying given the growing Ebola outbreak in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Preparedness measures need to be stepped up as there is a considerable risk of Ebola spreading across borders.

Due to displacement and extensive damage to water and sanitation facilities, 5.6 million people urgently need access to safe water. In 2019, 600 000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are at risk of acute malnourishment on top of the nearly one million children who suffer from the condition. Up to 2.4 million South Sudanese children are deprived of education, one of the highest proportions of out-of-school children in the world. Thousands of South Sudanese children are either missing or separated from their parents. South Sudan’s crisis is characterised by serious violations and abuses against civilians, including widespread sexual and gender-based violence and forced child recruitment. The conflict has triggered a mass exodus to Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Sudan. One-third of the South Sudanese population live uprooted from their homes, as refugees or internally displaced people.

CONTEXT AND METHODOLOGY

Renk Town is located in Renk County, Upper Nile State, near South Sudan’s border with Sudan. Since independance in 2011, Renk has been a major destination and transit point for households travelling between Sudan and South Sudan and, since the beginning of the current conflict in 2013, for internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing conflict in Upper Nile State.

REACH monitors three sites in Renk Town, two road points (Sukjima and Zero bus stations) and one port (Renk Port), to record arrivals to, departures from and transits through the town on a daily basis. Data is collected at household (HH) level on HH demographics and vulnerabilities, transportation routes, key push/pull factors and intentions. Data collected daily is then synthesized into a monthly factsheet to provide humanitarian actors with an overview of wider movement trends. Due to Sudan’s closure of the Joda border entrance into South Sudan in March 2018, inbound households increasingly cross at informal border sites at night, after data collection hours (9:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m). Further, not all entry points to Renk Town were covered systematically. As such, the data presented in this factsheet is not representative, rather indicative of movement trends for the assessed population.

The following findings are based on primary data collected from 2-31 January 2019, in which time 69 departing HHs (226 individuals), 48 arriving HHs (204 individuals) and 287 transiting HHs (932 individuals) were recorded at the three locations. Average daily, permanent arrivals to South Sudan coming to or transiting through Renk Town continued to exceed outflows, but have declined

When rebel fighting flared in South Sudan in 2013, two years after the country gained independence, hospitals were suddenly overwhelmed with patients with gunshot wounds across Juba in desperate need of blood.

But not a drop was available for transfusion.

Instead, the injured mostly relied on donations from family members – and even then it proved difficult to persuade relatives to donate blood. Eventually, the President of Kenya, responding to a call from the Government of South Sudan for help, sent blood from his nation.

“During the crisis in 2013, there was a lot of demand for blood,” says Dr Lul Lojok Deng, Director General of the Public Health Laboratory and National Blood Transfusion Services at the South Sudan Ministry of Health. “But there was no stockpile of blood back then, so many people died because of the lack of blood.”

This crisis galvanized the Ministry of Health and partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Government of Japan, into action, launching the National Blood Transfusion Services in Juba in July 2014 and producing the National Blood Transfusion Policy and Strategic Plan by November 2015. Recently, the Government of Japan provided WHO South Sudan with an additional $US 712 500 and some of the funds are earmarked to support universal access to blood and transfusion safety.

Since then and despite enormous logistical and cultural challenges, South Sudan has been making steady progress in expanding its blood transfusion services.

Now, in addition to the blood transfusion centre that was established in Juba in 2014, there is a regional centre in Wau, in the north-west of the country, with another soon to open in Malakal in the north-east.

“Japan is very proud to support the blood transfusion programme in South Sudan because it’s a very important programme within the heath sector,” says the Ambassador of Japan, Seiji Okada. “People in South Sudan always suffer from lack of blood and because of the situation many people die. Japan supports this programme to save the lives of women, men and children.”

Another major achievement has been the increase in blood collected from voluntary donors.

According to WHO guidelines, 1% of a country’s population needs to donate blood to meet annual requirements. Under this principle, South Sudan should be collecting an estimated 120,000 units for its population of about 12.9 million people.

However, the country continues to struggle with a chronic shortfall, due in part to a health system that is weakened by lack of investment and human resources. It also relates to cultural issues – many South Sudanese believe that giving blood will make them ill.

“In some communities, people don’t believe in giving blood because they think that when they donate they will fall sick or even die,” explains Dr Charles Ocan, Health Policy Advisor and Team Lead for the Integrated Service Delivery Cluster at WHO South Sudan. They are also worry that their blood might be misused.

Sustained efforts to educate the public led to South Sudan participating in World Blood Donor Day for the first time in 2015. The number of voluntary, unpaid donations is growing.

There were 1754 voluntary blood donations in 2018 at the services established in Juba, Wau and Torit. Five years ago, there were only 65 voluntary blood donations.

When collections started in 2014, only 23% of the blood donated came from South Sudanese donors. In 2018, it had jumped to 35%. The rest was donated by other nationals.

“We are making good progress,” says Dr Deng.

Donating blood saves lives

“A lot of people are suffering because they are in need of blood,” said Moses Alfonse, one of the new South Sudanese blood donors in Juba. “Mothers who give birth may need blood, and victims of road accidents need blood. So, this blood that I donated will save their lives.”

WHO also used the funding from the Government of Japan to develop blood transfusion protocols and procedures, in addition to building up the skills of staff in areas of donor recruitment and selection, laboratory procedures and proper use of blood.

“There is a critical shortage of human resources in this country, so WHO has worked closely with partners at the national and subnational levels to ensure that staff are trained on the components of blood transfusion,” says Dr Joy Waya, Health Systems Planning Officer within the Integrated Service Delivery Cluster at WHO South Sudan. “This has, in turn, increased the quality of services being offered, such as the screening of blood and blood transfusion services and the rational use of blood and blood products in health services delivery.”

Amat, a 32-year-old mother expecting her fifth child, recently had a blood transfusion at the teaching hospital in Wau. She was diagnosed with severe anaemia and had a transfusion two days later. Anaemia during pregnancy is linked to low birth weight, premature birth and maternal and infant death.

“I suffered from fatigue and dizziness,” she said. “But all those symptoms have now disappeared.”

The World Food Programme’s (WFP) school feeding programme was introduced in South Sudan, by then southern Sudan, in 2003 with the aim of enhancing access to food. The school feeding programme is a safety net aimed at incentivizing education for children to come to school.
Six years of civil war have resulted in one of the largest internal and external displacement crisis. The conflict has affected all areas of the country’s development, including livelihoods, education and health.

Many schools have been abandoned or destroyed, inhibiting access to education by children. As a result, enrolment and attendance rates plummeted to 62 percent in 2015 from 85 percent in 2009. With an improved security situation, attendance and enrolment have steadily increased to approximately 70 percent in 2018. following expansion of the school meals programme to reach more schools, the enrolment rates are expected to continue to increase.

In 2019, WFP plans to assist 460,000 children across 1,045 schools in all of the ten states of South Sudan.

2018 Achievements At a Glance

939 schools supported

412,118 children received a daily school meal (51 percent boys and 49 percent girls)

310,065 children de-wormed

“Impunity cannot be allowed to continue.”

Geneva (12 March 2019)– The Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has identified 23 individuals over the past year who bear command or superior responsibility under international criminal law for serious crimes related to the conflict in South Sudan. Members of the Commission, mandated by the Human Rights Council to investigate human rights in South Sudan, told the Council this morning that these individuals, along with previously identified alleged perpetrators, could face justice in courts around the world, not just in South Sudan.

“We have not placed all of our eggs in one basket,” Chair of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, Yasmin Sooka, told the Human Rights Council this morning as she and her colleagues presented their more than 200 page report. “We have framed these crimes in multiple ways to allow future prosecutions to take place in jurisdictions inside and outside South Sudan,” she explained. “This allows for the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity in states that are parties to relevant treaties on torture, enforced disappearance and attacks on UN personnel, for example.

In its third report to the Human Rights Council, the Commission noted that while the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan in September 2018 had seen improvements in the overall situation in terms of security, peace, and economy, the situation in the Equatorias, in the southern part of the country, was extremely volatile with ongoing fighting in the Yei River Area between forces of the government and the National Salvation Front (NAS), which had not signed the Agreement. Thousands of civilians, the Commission told the Council, were still being forcibly displaced.

In this report, the Commission focused on incidents occurring between May and June 2018 in Unity State, Western Bahr el Ghazal, and Central Equatoria State, concluding that such incidents may amount to serious violations of human rights and of humanitarian law.

The Commission documented sexual violence, including brutal rapes including multiple gang rapes, sexual slavery, abductions, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, and mutilation of sexual organs as well as killings, at the hands of both government forces and those belonging to the opposition. The Commission noted UNICEF statements that in more than 25 per cent of all reported cases of conflict-related sexual violence, the victims were children.

“It has become commonplace to say that these crimes take place because impunity has become entrenched,” noted Ms. Sooka, “But that impunity cannot be allowed to continue.”

The Commission also noted increases in arbitrary detentions, torture, executions and enforced disappearances. These generated paranoia and fear in South Sudan, with civil society activists reporting they felt afraid to speak out. The Commission documented cases where prisoners had been held in shipping containers with no fresh air or toilets. Witnesses also described torture, including beating and whipping, pulling out of toenails, cutting, burning and electrocution.

The Commissioners said the signing of the Revitalized Peace Agreement had not delivered immediate improvement in the desperate humanitarian situation for the people of South Sudan. Due in large part to the conflict, 60 per cent of the South Sudanese population is severely food insecure, and there remain 2.2 million refugees and 1.9 million Internally Displaced Persons. The humanitarian situation is exacerbated by the deliberate obstruction of the work of humanitarian actors, the Commission noted, adding that South Sudan has been ranked the most dangerous place in the world for humanitarian workers for the third consecutive year.

The Commission reiterated its continued concern about the lack of progress in establishing the Transitional Justice mechanisms that were adopted in the2015 Peace Agreement and re-confirmed in the Revitalized Agreement of September 2018. “These mechanisms are essential for dealing with the past, preventing fresh violations, ensuring accountability and constructing a cohesive society,” said Commission member Barney Afako. Little or no progress had been made on establishing these mechanisms, said Commission members, calling on the Government of South Sudan to take urgent steps towards establishment of the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing, and the Compensation and Reparation Authority, and on both the Government of South Sudan and the African Union to establish the Hybrid Court for South Sudan.

“Despite these delays in the establishment of justice mechanisms within South Sudan,” underlined Commission member Andrew Clapham, “Perpetrators of violent crimes in South Sudan should not think they can escape justice, as they could be prosecuted in international courts or domestic courts in other countries.”

The Commission called on the region and the wider international community to invest politically and materially in the Transitional Justice mechanisms in South Sudan. “These are essential for building sustainable peace,” said Ms. Sooka, “As well as supporting the people of South Sudan in rebuilding all aspects of national life, especially the rule of law.” ENDS

The Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan was established by the Human Rights Council in March 2016 and extended in March 2017 and for a further year in March 2018, with a mandate to determine and report the facts and circumstances of, collect and preserve evidence of, and clarify responsibility for alleged gross violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes, including sexual and gender-based violence and ethnic violence, with a view to ending impunity and providing accountability.

For media queries, please contact: Doune Porter, Media Advisor, chrssmedia@ohchr.org /at +41 79 752 0486 or Rolando Gómez on rgomez@ohchr.org/+41 79 477 4411

JACOB RUAI

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan has transported more than 20 displaced persons from its protection site in Wau to their homes in Leer, in the Unity region. The new arrivals, mostly women and children, are determined to make a positive mark.

“We feel it is a good time for us to take the lead in reconciliation. We learned what is good and what is bad, so we must assist in uniting our communities now that we are back,” said Nyabang Chuol Mabil, returning with her four children from the protection site where they have been staying since 2014.

On their arrival at the UN base in Leer, peacekeepers escorted the returnees to various nearby villages.

“When the peace agreement was signed we were very excited, and now we decided to return back home,” said Nyakiir Mawich, while praising the peacekeeping mission for having taken well care of her during her years in Wau.

John Gatjang Changath, an UNMISS representative, welcomed the returnees to Leer, saying that the peacekeepers and a cluster of humanitarian organizations will provide the services they will need to resume their lives on home turf before the rainy season begins.

“We are also urging the authorities to provide security to everyone who comes back to the region,” Mr. Changath stressed.

GIDEON SACKITEY

Participants at a cattle migration conference in Duk Padiet in Greater Jonglei have decided to maintain peaceful relations with their neighbours despite some attacks having taken place in the area.

“We resolve to live at peace with our neighbours, just as we have done over the past years, but we wish to draw the attention to raiders who constantly abduct our children and kill our livestock,” Ater Bayak Ater, a visibly worried youth leader said, urging for everyone to be disarmed and to respect the rule of law.

More wishes were expressed by Yar Den Kuany, representing the Dinka Duk community.

“We need additional water ponds, mobile clinics for both pastoralists and livestock, and mobile schools for our children in the cattle camps during migration,” she pleaded.

Duk Padiet County serves as a grazing area for cattle keepers not only in Duk but also for neighbouring herdsmen in communities like Ayod and Uror.

Some of the 72 cattle camp leaders from a number of counties, representing different ethnicities, had walked for nine hours to attend the conference, organized by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. Fortunately, the marathon walkers found the gathering “most useful”.

David Dau Kuany, deputy paramount chief of Duk, pointed out that the ethnically diverse communities have all coexisted peacefully, aided by inter-marriages, trading and sharing of grazing land. “We do not intend to change that. We are the same people,” he stressed.

Representing the peacekeeping mission, Samuel Sarpong, said that previous experiences have shown its Civil Affairs Division that organizing these kinds of pre- and post-migration (of cattle) conferences have proved effective in reducing incidents of violence between nomadic herders and host communities.

PETER RING ARIIK KUOL

Residents of the Deng-Nhial area in Rumbek County are jubilant.

“The presence of a police post in Deng-Nhial will help us reduce crime,” says Ms. Yom Derkeny, adding that “law and order will prevail in our community.”

The construction of a new community law enforcement station is financed by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan in the hope of promoting peace and the rule of law in the area.

“The community is protected by the police, if there is no police facility, the community is then at risk. Now you put it here and it means real absolute maintenance of law order for the community,” Chief Marial Majok said.

Representing the government of Western Lakes, the Minister of Physical Infrastructure, Kedit Madol, was also pleased as the erection of the police facilities took off.

“It will enable us to bring law-enforcement services closer to the people,” he said, urging victims of crime to come forward and report their cases.

The police facility is one of the many Quick Impact Projects supported by the peacekeeping mission in the country. The construction costs USD 49,000 and will be implemented by the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek.

Concluding a five-day trip to Uganda, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency’s Deputy High Commissioner Kelly T. Clements expressed appreciation to Uganda for its open door policy for refugees, and urged more global solidarity for the Ugandan people currently hosting more than 1.2 million refugees.

“I’ve been extremely impressed at how Uganda’s inclusive policies have improved the lives of refugees and the communities hosting them,” said Clements of her visit. “Uganda represents the Global Compact in action, but the country can’t do it alone. More global support is needed, particularly in the areas of education, economic opportunities and the environment.”

She visited refugee settlements in Adjumani, Moyo and Yumbe districts and met with refugee groups, district authorities, high level government officials and ministers including the Hon. Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, Minister of State for Primary Health Care. She also met with Uganda’s First Lady and Minister for Education and Sports, Mrs. Janet K. Museveni, where she praised the national Education Response Plan, which fully integrates refugees into national and district planning in refugee-hosting areas.

Education is a major priority in the Uganda refugee response for 2019 and beyond. More than half of refugee children, and over one third of Ugandan children in refugee hosting areas, are out of school.

In Palorinya refugee settlement in Moyo district, Clements met with teachers, students and their parents and noted the myriad of challenges they face. She was moved by the story of a 22 year-old refugee woman, who committed suicide after learning she would not be able to pay school fees to complete her last year of secondary education

“We all want to prevent a generation of young people from being lost because they feel the future holds so little for them,” said the Deputy High Commissioner. “It is in places like Palorinya that more global solidarity with countries and people hosting refugees must be demonstrated.”

As part of a focus on education, Clements announced that UNHCR would re-allocate of 100,000 USD to ensure young students can continue studying in secondary school in the Palorinya refugee settlement.

The funds will cover school fees for more than 500 refugee and Ugandan youth who cannot afford to stay in school otherwise. This new support will also help to improve conditions in secondary schools and provide small, but critical supplies that can affect school attendance, like sanitary pads for female students.

In Adjumani, Clements visited a market with businesses owned by women entrepreneurs and heard from refugee and host community representatives. Education, health and environmental issues were the primary concerns raised during her interaction with the refugees and district authorities.

The Deputy High Commissioner’s visit highlights UNHCR’s priorities and needs for Uganda’s nearly 1.2 million refugees coming from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Somalia and Rwanda living across 30 settlements and Kampala.

Media contact

Duniya Aslam Khan, phone number: +256 772 701101, email: khand@unhcr.org

Sexual attacks in South Sudan are so common that mothers now teach their daughters how to survive the ordeal of being raped, in such a way as to minimize the violence. That’s according to Yasmin Sooka, chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights, who was speaking on Tuesday in front of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, during its latest session.

She said that “the protracted conflict in South Sudan has had the most profound impact on women and girls, who have suffered sexual violence, including multiple rapes, at the hands of both government forces and opposition forces.”

The Commission, she added, has documented countless incidents of “brutal rapes including multiple gang rapes, sexual slavery, abductions, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, and mutilation of sexual organs, as well as killing.”

The on-going culture of sexual violence on all sides, comes despite the signing of a Revitalized Agreement last September, which Ms. Sooka said had led to an “overall improvement” in peace and security, although fighting has continued in Yei state.

The world’s youngest country has become riven by civil conflict between forces loyal to the President and his former Vice-President, since 2013, leading to thousands of deaths, more than 2.2 million refugees who have fled across the border, famine in some areas, and a devastated economy.

‘Every societal norm’ being broken

“The Commission was outraged by the testimony of many South Sudanese women who said that the risk of rape is so high in going out of the Protection of Civilians sites to forage for food and collect wood”, said Ms. Sooka, “that they have had to teach their daughters how to respond to their rapists…to minimize the violence.”

The rights expert also noted that thousands of youngsters had been recruited by commanders who promised them that they could loot villages and rape women and girls, in lieu of payment.

“These are not random incidents of sexual violence but a systematic widespread pattern and characteristic of the conflict in South Sudan, where rape and sexual violence are used as a tactic of warfare against women and girls by all of the warring parties to sow terror and fear amongst the civilian population”, said the Commission Chairperson.

“No one is safe – not young boys, the elderly or the disabled, as the belligerents break every societal norm that has long held the people of South Sudan together.”

Responding to the claims, South Sudan’s Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Paulino Wanawilla Unango, insisted that sexual offences were punishable under national law.

Mr. Unango also told the Human Rights Council that there had been “no serious military engagement” between Government forces and any other armed group.

1. Situation update

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, Democratic Republic of the Congo is continuing with moderate intensity. Katwa and Butembo remain the major health zones of concern. Simultaneously, relatively small clusters of cases have been observed in other areas of North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which stem from chains of transmission in Katwa and Butembo, but these clusters have largely been contained to limited local transmissions.

Over the last 21 days, no new cases have been detected in 11 of the 20 health zones affected to date, and within the recently affected health zones, transmission has been limited to 34 out of 154 health areas. The response has had traction in these places, despite the challenges of community mistrust engendered by the years of conflict they have endured. The risk of further chains of transmission and spread, however, remain high, as demonstrated by the recent spread to Lubero Health Zone and the reintroduction to Biena Health Zone following a prolonged period without new cases. These events highlight the importance of the response teams remaining active and vigilant across all areas, including those with lower case incidence, to rapidly detect new cases and prevent onward transmission.

As of 10 March 2019, a total of 923 EVD cases, including 858 confirmed and 65 probable cases, were reported from 20 health zones in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces. Overall, cases have been reported from 125 of 319 health areas across 20 health zones. A total of 582 deaths were reported (overall case fatality ratio 63%), including 517 deaths among confirmed cases. Of confirmed and probable cases with reported age and sex, 57% (523/922) were female, and 30% (279/923) were children aged less than 18 years. The cumulative total of confirmed and probable cases among health workers is 74, including 26 deaths.

Nine of the 20 health zones (45%) that have reported at least one case of EVD to date have active virus transmission, reporting at least one confirmed case in the last 21 days (18 February to 10 March 2019). Conversely, there are 11 health zones (55%) where no cases of EVD have been reported in the last 21 days. In total thirty-four (22%) health areas in the 9 zones reported one or more cases.

A total of 80 confirmed cases were reported from Katwa (45), Butembo (18), Mandima (7), Kalunguta (3), Kyondo (2), Masereka (2), Lubero (1), Beni (1) and Biena (1). Most cases were reported in Katwa and Butembo, accounting for 79% (63/80) of cases reported in the last three weeks. A new health zone, Lubero, has reported a confirmed case for the first time, with links to a confirmed case in Butembo.

The Ministry of Health (MoH), WHO and partners continue to monitor and investigate all alerts in affected areas, in other provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in neighbouring countries. To date, all reported alerts outside the outbreak affected areas have been investigated or laboratory tested to rule out EVD.

Looting and killing continue in the Two Areas

The National Human Rights Monitors Organisation (NHRMO) has been monitoring human rights violations committed against the civilian population in Southern Kordofan (SK) and Blue Nile (BN),
Sudan, since the current conflict began in 2011.

The information in this update has been verified by NHRMO field monitors in the areas controlled by the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement/Army–North (SPLM/A-N). Other information has been provided by trusted sources. The update highlights several incidents perpetrated by Sudanese government forces and its allied militias/paramilitary forces against the local population in these areas. The update provides strong evidence that civilians are being directly and deliberately targeted by the Sudanese government and its allied militias/paramilitary forces as most of the attacks were against clearly identifiable and unarmed civilians.

INTRODUCTION

This report covers the month of January 2019 and focusses on the areas of Southern Kordofan (Nuba Mountains) and Blue Nile states of Sudan controlled by the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army/Movement – North (SPLA/M-N), also known as the Two Areas.

The decreased pattern of violent conflict from the last quarter of 2018 continued in the Two Areas in January 2019. This was a result of unilateral ceasefires in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile by the belligerent parties (Sudan government and the SPLA/M-N) for more than two years. In the case of Blue Nile, the intensity of inter-communal tensions and violence that began in 2017 continued into 2018 also reduced.

The last ceasefires were declared in July 2018 by the government1 and in November by the SPLA/M-N2 , both extending to 31 December 2018. These ceasefires were not extended immediately into January, although on 28 January 2019 Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, declared an “open ended” ceasefire3 in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states. For its part, the SPLM/A-N did not seem to have made any reciprocal declaration at the time of writing.

However, despite the ceasefires, human rights monitors in Southern Kordofan reported that the Sudan government army and its allied militias carried out a couple of attacks on the population resulting in the death of one person and stealing of cattle.

In terms of food security, the food situation slightly improved due to the onset of the harvest season.
There were also reports of some returns of refugees to Southern Kordofan from camps in South Sudan as well as to Blue Nile from Ethiopian refugee camps.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Protests continue in Sudan amid national state of emergency

• Deteriorating economic conditions continue to worsen food security and livelihoods

• Jebel Marra clashes result in displacement, humanitarian needs

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

• Widespread, anti-government protests amid declining economic conditions and heightened food insecurity have continued across Sudan despite the Government of Sudan (GoS) declaration of a year-long national state of emergency and an associated ban on unauthorized gatherings.

• October–November rains along Red Sea State’s coastal areas have resulted in a desert locust outbreak, potentially threatening food security and livelihoods in eastern and northern agricultural areas of the country. Locust control operations led by the GoS have treated approximately 184,000 acres of land to date.

• An estimated 2,200 internally displaced persons (IDPs) arrived in Otash IDP camp in South Darfur State from December 13–January 7. Following a mid-January needs assessment in Otash, humanitarian actors provided food assistance and relief commodities to more than 1,200 IDPs at the site in early February.