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Following media reports of the renewed wave of violence affecting the northern town of Malakal since 18 February Mr Melker Malbeck, Head of Delegation for ICRC in South Sudan, issued the following statement from the ICRC delegation in Juba on 22 February 2014.

“The ICRC is very worried about the continued violence that is going on in South Sudan.

We’re very worried about some of the reports that we have been getting about attacks against civilians. We’ve heard about targeted killings, sexual violence, attacks against medical facilities, and health workers, and this is very concerning for us.

We’re calling on all parties to the conflict to respect humanitarian law, to refrain from attacks on civilians, and to respect medical facilities and health workers and let them do their job.”

SHOTLIST

Location: Juba, South Sudan

Length: 00:36

Format: HD and SD/16:9

Producer: Marco Juri Jimenez

Camera: Christopher Nicholas

Sound: English

ICRC ref: AV158N2_ MelkerMalbeck

Date: 22 January 2014

Copyright: ICRC access all

For further information, please contact:

Wolde Saugeron, ICRC Geneva, : +41 227303149 or +41 792446405

Marco Yuri Jiménez, ICRC Juba, tel: +211 912360038

or visit our website: www.icrc.org

To find out what the ICRC is doing to put an end to attacks on health workers and patients, go to

www.healthcareindanger.org

Follow the ICRC on facebook.com/icrc and twitter.com/icrc

By KEVIN J. KELLEY

More than 18,000 refugees from South Sudan have been registered at Kakuma Camp as of Thursday, pushing its total population to just 3,000 shy of 150,000 limit set by the Kenya government.

The United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday it is working with Kenya's Department of Refugee Affairs in an effort to establish a new camp in Nakururum area.

Local communities have identified two possible sites, both about 80 kilometres from Kakuma on the road to Lokichoggio, the UN agency said.

“However, this is not a done deal yet,” a February 19 UN report cautioned, noting that additional elders in the area “need to be consulted to have a unanimous decision.”

Kenya is hosting fewer refugees from the fighting in South Sudan than are some neighbouring countries. Close to half of the 167,000 South Sudanese moving across borders have arrived in Uganda. Ethiopia is hosting 42,000 South Sudan refugees and Sudan has received 27,000.

An estimated 800,000 persons have been internally displaced in South Sudan since conflict erupted there two months ago.

Of the 18,000-plus South Sudanese refugees now in Kenya, 2600 are unaccompanied children, the UN says.

Fighting that broke out in recent days in Malakal in South Sudan's Upper Nile State must stop, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday, citing “catastrophic consequences for civilian populations.”

Becky Bakr

NRC’s Emergency Response Team report about worrying humanitarian conditions for the newly displaced in Awerial in South Sudan. NRC has established a new base in the county and is delivering rapid emergency assistance.

The Emergency Response Team has been deployed to South Sudan since mid-January to support NRC’s response to the escalating conflict in South Sudan, which has forced an increasing number of people to flee their homes. Nearly 900.000 people have fled their homes in South Sudan since the political disagreements between President Salva Kiir and former vice President Riek Machar escalated into total war in December last year.

Large numbers of people have been fleeing across the Nile towards Awerial, to escape intense fighting around the city of Bor. People are crossing the river with very few belongings and are living in extremely poor conditions, with multiple families clustering around every tree or bush seeking shelter from the harsh climate. Many still fear further attacks, and clashes between government and opposition forces continue in the area. There is an acute need for shelter, water supply, basic sanitation and household items. It is estimated at over 75.000 people have fled to Awerial, but the number could be much higher due to unregistered populations living in the bush.

The head of NRC’s Emergency Response Team, Shaun Scales, describes the humanitarian situation as worrying:

“The high number of internally displaced people means that children are being born in open conditions with little or no protection from the elements or vector borne diseases”, he says.

Access to the displaced populations for humanitarian actors has been difficult due to a lack of security and continuing clashes.

“Safe access to all populations displaced by this conflict is essential in ensuring that acute needs are met and a further deterioration in living conditions for affected civilian populations across South Sudan is avoided”, Scales adds.

NRC is mobilising all available resources to ensure that the most critical needs are met. Initial distribution of emergency shelter kits and household packages including mosquito nets, cooking sets, blankets and soap to around 30.000 people is underway. Further activities focusing on education, water supply and sanitation are in the pipeline.

In addition to a difficult security situation, future relief efforts will be hampered by South Sudan’s seasonal rains expected to start in April rendering many roads impassable. Widespread flooding in areas occupied by internally displaced people will increase the risk of water and vector borne diseases.

“It is essential that all assisting organisations mobilise further resources, prepare and pre-position sufficient stocks in operational areas before the rains”, Scales says.

JUBA (23 Feb) – Today Oxfam withdraws four aid workers who have been trapped by fighting in Malakal while raising a further alarm over a lack of humanitarian access across the country.

Arriving off the UN extraction flight, Cecilia Kiden who headed Oxfam’s response team in Malakal said:

“The first few days we were all afraid of what was happening in the town because of the sound of regular shelling. As the days went by, we heard terrible reports from the people arriving at the UN for their protection – stories of women and girls who were threatened with abduction by armed men and were then shot as soon as they ran.”

When the violence in the town began, Oxfam had to severely scale back its work at the UN base as regular shelling in the town and violence both inside and outside the base made the movement of staff and supplies very difficult.

Oxfam plans to resume its activities in the UN base, where around 21,000 people are now living, as soon Wednesday this week. The immediate needs identified by the aid agency are for clean drinking water, food and medical care.

Jose Barahona, Oxfam’s Country Director in South Sudan, said:

“We will get back to work to help the many vulnerable people in Malakal as soon as possible but the utter breakdown in the cessation of hostilities, as exemplified by this round of violence, is creating a difficult situation for us and an even more desperate situation for the nearly one million displaced by violence in South Sudan. Every day a gun is fired is another blow to a nation on its knees, a political solution to this horrific crisis cannot come soon enough”.

Oxfam ran a long term development programme in the town of Malakal until violence in December caused the agency to suspend its work. Oxfam restarted work in the town on Friday 7 February promoting good hygiene practices among the displaced people sheltering inside the UN base.

Notes to Editors

Oxfam has been working in South Sudan since 1986 on long term development and emergency relief. As a result of the conflict Oxfam has been providing food, water, sanitation and hygiene to around 120,000 displaced people in three locations across the country – Juba, Mingkaman and Malakal. In the coming days and weeks, we will be working hard to expand our program across South Sudan. Oxfam is also running an emergency response to South Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda where we aim to reach 20,000 people.

Contact Information

For more information or to arrange an interview with Oxfam, please contact Grace Cahill in Juba on +211 956 708 278.

02/24/2014 02:53 GMT

by Hannah McNeish

NYAL, February 24, 2014 (AFP) - As the narrow dugout canoe glides softly across the vast swamplands around Nyal, a once sleepy town in South Sudan's Unity state, the only sound between the rhythmic plops of the paddle is silence.

But earlier this month, the swamps were alive with the cracks of gunfire, the screams of the dying and the desperate splashes of those fleeing soldiers and armed youth that forced what local officials say is tens of thousands of people to maroon themselves on islands and scavenge for survival.

"Now, we just depend on water lilies and palm tree fruits," said William Gatkoy, who ran for his life for three hours carrying the smallest of his eight children to reach the nearest dusty patch, where around 100 people have erected dens from palm branches and pieces of cloth.

The stones of rapidly diminishing fruits litter the floor, and it takes all day digging through mush to find the black, knobbled roots of water lilies that resemble rotten potatoes.

"They're tasteless. You just eat them to save your life," said Gatkoy, stroking the scaly arm of one of his dust-caked children suffering from the diet and from drinking water from swamps that double as toilets.

On February 7, officials say that around 1,200 soldiers and a small army of young men swarmed Panyjiar county to carry out a killing, looting and razing spree that left 60 dead and 26 wounded.

Home to over 50,000 people, it was always considered a safe haven, even during decades of civil war with Sudan that ended in 2005 and led to the birth of South Sudan in 2011.

But a power struggle between leaders hundreds of kilometres (miles) away in the new nation's capital Juba in mid-December revived old ethnic tensions between South Sudan's largest Dinka tribe and secondary Nuer tribe, then poisoned a shallow well of unity, leaving villagers behind enemy and tribal lines.

• Lives destroyed -

In Panyjiar, an overwhelmingly Nuer area bordered by a Dinka majority, the only place to hide is the swamp.

"Our problem here is the government. That's why we're afraid," said Simon Kuol, a local representative for the state-run Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.

From the air, the circles of ash and black lines snaking around villages appear to show a scorched earth campaign, with even UN buildings in the county capital Panyjiar collapsing in on themselves.

"There were police uniforms, army uniforms and some with civilian clothes," says William Ter, one of nine gunshot wounded patients admitted to Nyal's only clinic run by Sign of Hope (SoH), a small German charity.

The hard lumps on his leg from the shrapnel make an already elderly man shuffle, but the iodine soaked cloth rested on a seeping wound where a chunk of hand should be makes him suck in the stale air and wince with his good eye.

But Ter says his physical suffering is nothing compared to the pain of losing a life's work.

"They took all my cows and burnt my house," he said. "I have nothing. I can't do anything now."

And helping even those who are not stuck on islands will be difficult. Benjamin Bangoang, who ran SoH's dispensary in Kanynhial, about 10 kilometers (six miles) from Nhial, fled to the swamps with his family.

• Mass killings -

After seeing six people shot dead, including two women running near him in the swamps, he hid for days in the dark bog.

Compelled back to help the wounded, he returned to find only smouldering ruins and bodies.

"They came and shot guns around the village and they killed people. Even the drugs that are usually kept with me, they burnt them," Bangoang said.

Peace talks being held in Ethiopia have provided little reprieve from atrocities sweeping silently through villages. In major towns decimated several times by opposing forces, a handful of anonymous aid workers speak of mass rape and killings.

Some have watched executions just metres (yards) outside United Nations bases, where tens of thousands of people are hiding from soldiers and militiamen hunting house to house for the ethnic rivals. Others have been hacked to death inside these refuges, as former neighbours and colleagues turned on one another.

In Panyjiar, which was devastated by floods last year, the increasingly brutal tribal conflict has left Gatkoy and many others high and dry: desperate not to become involved but hoping the ethnic tides will soon allow them back to shore.

There are major fears of a major outbreak of pneumonia and malaria, as well as the diarrhoeal diseases already affecting many stick-legged but heavily paunched children.

Despite the pain of seeing his children waste away, Gatkoy is determined to stay for at least two months, when the rains come, and only if he has stockpiled enough black roots to see the family through the next six months.

"We worry that when we go out, we will lose our lives," he said.

str/sas/gk/lc

© 1994-2014 Agence France-Presse

Highlights

• 166 500 beneficiaries (15% - 20% of the health sector target) have been reached with medicines and consultations, however– health efforts have to be scaled up ahead of the rainy season

• Disease surveillance and early warning systems set up in all IDP camps with 117 sentinel sites reporting

• Measles and polio vaccination have reached 218 967 children, cholera vaccination is being planned

• WHO and health partners concerned about the protection of health staff and facilities

• WHO urgently requesting US$ 10.95 million for relief efforts

BOR, 24 February 2014 (IRIN) - A handful of volunteers in almost deserted Bor, capital of South Sudan's Jonglei State, remove dead bodies from homes, put them in body bags donated by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and place them in mass graves. Since the emergence of an armed rebellion in mid-December, government troops have lost and won control of the town several times. On 23 February, the army said it had repelled further attempts to take Bor.

“Maybe 60 percent of Bor has been cleared,” said Jonglei's acting governor Aquilla Lam, returning from the burial of 134 people the same morning.

John Prendergast, director of the anti-genocide Enough Project, said he visited three other mass graves the week before IRIN's visit, where “hundreds of people have been buried…

“Every day, dozens of new corpses are discovered in abandoned homes. The body bags prepared by medical workers appear along the roads with relentless regularity.”

Some white body bags still lie along the main routes.

“Because most of the town has been abandoned, there is no way to know how many dead are still to be counted,” Prendergast added.

Hundreds are awaiting burial at a site where diggers from the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) are clearing more space in a field that used to serve as a cemetery for a few dozen people who died of diseases.

Crumpled sheets of metal and piles of litter are all that remain of the market in Bor; burnt huts - some said to contain the bodies of their owners - line pockmarked dirt roads.

Estimates for the numbers killed across South Sudan since mid-December vary widely: in January, the International Crisis Group suggested 10,000; some diplomats put the toll at ten times that figure.

Fleeing aid and church workers talk of devastation in towns such as Bentiu and Malakal in South Sudan's oil producing states of Unity and Upper Nile where rebels have massed and are still attacking.

Access to bodies difficult

Thousands are thought to have been killed in Bor and surrounding areas, but access to the bodies is almost impossible in five of Jonglei’s 11 counties where rebels are still operating.

“We have people going house to house to house looking [for bodies], but we don't have any vehicles,” said acting governor Lam.

He is reluctant to give a figure but thinks that “it's over 1,000 people” killed in Bor centre alone. He said that some of the Nuer White Army fighters that attacked Bor were as young as 10 or 12 and “armed only with spears”. Many were gunned down as government and Ugandan troops tried to protect the town.

Around 74,000 people - mostly from Bor and surrounding counties - fled to Minkamen in neighbouring Lakes State. Some escaped the gunmen by paying boatmen to whisk them to safety. Others simply plunged into the crocodile-infested Nile.

A mass grave has been dug by the UN at the St Andrew's Episcopal Church in Bor, where 22 people are buried, including 14 women who were shot dead, or dragged out, raped and had their throats slit.

Meanwhile, food is a major concern.

Standing by his shop that is now just a shell covered in a thin white dusting of flour - the only reminder of the 6,000 stolen bags - businessman Ayuen Guen is worried that people trickling back will have nothing to eat.

“There is no food items, there is nothing.” Guen would like to import more food from Uganda, but with banks destroyed and the government in war mode, he cannot change his South Sudanese pounds into dollars to buy anything.

He only knows that he lost an uncle in the fighting and is concerned that he cannot reach his brothers and many friends.

“A lot of people - I'm calling them, and the number is not going through… This place was all just bodies when I came here… In all the town, street children who were in the market - all these people, innocent people - they killed them. Even the mad people.”

hm/cb

DanChurchAid Risk Education Team protects vulnerable internally displaced people who fled their homes during the recent outbreak of fighting in South Sudan

By Marysia Zapasnik

The sun has barely risen above the horizon and the air is still cold and crisp.

Apart from the cockerels, most of god’s creatures are still sleeping. Yet there is movement in the small river Nile port of Minkamman. Men wrapped in blankets, brush their teeth with sticks and wash their faces and feet in the river.

A few women, carrying bags on their heads, stand on the shore and look across the water as a metal barge pulls in.

The DCA Risk Education team is there to greet the early morning risers.

“Good morning,” says Juma, the Team Leader, using a megaphone.

“Anyone going to Bor today, please look this way for some safety information that could save your life.”

The DanChurchAid Risk Education team, wearing their distinctive blue t-shirts, stand at the side of the port, smile at the passengers and encourage them to come closer to the banners and posters they are holding.

They ran for their lives

Funded by CHF, the Risk Education team arrived in the Minkamman camp for internally displaced people (IDP), in South Sudans Lakes State, more than a week ago. There are over 80,000 IDPs in the camp, all having escaped the fierce fighting in Bor and the surrounding areas in December 2013 and January 2014.

Bor, the capital of Jonglei State, is just across the river Nile. They came in metal barges and boats under cover of darkness with only the few belongings they were able to grab as they ran for their lives.

Life in the IDP camp is harsh. Extended families crowd under thorn trees, with little protection from the scorching sun in the day and the cold temperatures at night. Now, as the fighting in Bor seems to have subsided, some of them are making a desperate trip back across the river to check on their houses and animals and to collect any of their belongings that have not been looted or burnt. An extra blanket, a mattress, perhaps some clothes and a cooking pot. All things that are needed in the camp.

Going back to the war zone

As these people go to Bor they are at risk from the many Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) that are scattered around the area. These dangerous items include mortars, projectile, hand grenades and small arms ammunition. It is for this reason that the DCA RE team provides Risk Education at the small port at dawn every morning, before the barge departs to Bor.

“We show the people pictures of unexploded ordnance and mines” explains Dedi, one of the team members.

“We tell them not to touch these items and explain what might happen if these items explode. We do not want any of these people to be injured, maimed or killed. The killing during the recent conflict was terrible, and we do not want anything bad to happen to these survivors.”

Tailored especially for the audience

The RE session is short and to the point. The passengers are nervous about their trip and what they might find on the other side of the river.

“We have tailored our RE session especially for these people” says Amer, a Dinka speaker in the team.

“We know they cannot concentrate for long. As soon as the barge arrives they must quickly climb on board to grab one of the limited seats. We give them short simple messages that they can easily understand and remember.”

Learning by singing and playing

The RE team then moves on to work in the IDP camp. Most of the IDPs are women and children and the team uses songs and games as part of their RE.

“With the children, we are field testing two new DCA RE games and a song,” says Akujo, as the team takes a break in between sessions.

“DCA always tries to improve the RE sessions we provide and to really tailor them to the audience and the risk. This makes working for DCA always a challenge and very interesting.”

In the first game the children play, they learn to recognize dangerous items and in the second, the children learn what to do if they see such items.

“Kachi, dunejak, le mama,” shout the children in the background. This is Dinka for: Stop, do not touch, and report to your mother. They show the actions that go together with the words with energy and enthusiasm.

Singing and laughter - sings of normalcy

The RE team has begun working with children in the Child Friendly Spaces recently set up by Plan and Save the Children. There are no schools operating in the IDP camp. Participating in fun, energetic and innovative RE sessions brings obvious joy to the children. Their happy singing voices and shrieking laughter introduces a sign of normalcy and hope for the camp population.

As reaching all 80,000 IDPs will not be possible, the team is also training male and female Community Focal Points who help DCA to spread the safety messages to their respective peer groups. Community Focal Points are selected through meetings with local authorities and the communities themselves to ensure that the most at risk people are targeted.

So far, the team has provided tailor-made RE to over 1300 IDPs, educated and entertained children in Child Friendly Spaces eight times and trained 110 community focal points. There is still a lot of work to do, but they do it with a smile, always.

The passengers thank the team for helping to protect them, and after a short prayer the barge departs.

This op-ed originally published on Sudan Tribune, and written by Maiwen Dot Pheot, Research Associate at the Enough Project.

Although there is no specific agenda for the planned South Sudan peace talks in Addis Ababa, most discussions will likely revolve around power sharing, the status of each side’s armed forces and negotiations on a transition of power. But there is one missing ingredient: justice and accountability. For a lasting peace, South Sudanese must be given a chance to take a look at the social dimension of this conflict and push for honest accountability for crimes committed by either side during the past two months. South Sudanese have already been vocal on the importance of accountability. Now, regional and international stakeholders must mount pressure on the two parties to consider issues of justice and accountability as a component of these talks and push for a hybrid court to deal with these crimes.

It is absolutely undeniable that serious human rights crimes have been committed in South Sudan. There has been continuous call by the African Union, the U.N., and many other organizations that those accused of such crimes should be held accountable. Now that the cessation of hostilities has been signed, it is time to properly collect and document these crimes so that this evidence is available for future reference. In light of the weakness of national legal institutions in South Sudan to bring influential persons to book, we will need external support to make this happen. The African Union has already set up its own Commission of Inquiry, but that is not enough.

After his last visit to Bor town, the U.N. assistant secretary general for human rights, Mr. Ivan Simonovic, confirmed that grave human rights atrocities might have been committed during this conflict by both sides. "Bor is empty and Bentiu does not exist anymore; it has been wiped out. It has not been only looted, it has been burned," Mr Simonovic told the BBC. Those responsible must be held to account for these acts. U.N. World Food Programme and many other humanitarian organizations operating in areas affected by this conflict confirmed that their assets and warehouses were looted or destroyed. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) condemned the looting of its facility in Bentiu. Other human rights violations such as forced disappearance, targeting along ethnic lines, summary execution, rape and other forms of violations have been widely reported. U.N. and other sources including the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) produced imagery reports confirming intentional razing of dwellings belonging to civilians in Bor, Malakal, and numerous locations across Unity state including Riek Machar’s hometown Leer. Everyday, more victims and survivors share the stories of unbearable inhumane experiences they have endured during this conflict.

Last year, African leaders pleaded to defer International Criminal Court cases against African leaders until they leave office. This undermines the goal of justice and accountability. Deferring prosecution both encourages current African leaders to commit more crimes while in office and assists them to resist peaceful transitioning of power to avoid prosecution. In a new country like South Sudan, which is finding its way towards political stability, allowing impunity to prevail could be incredibly damaging. To combat this trend, hybrid or mixed courts should be established, allowing South Sudan to retain its sovereignty over the process while increasing the effort’s credibility. A hybrid or mixed court should have a clear mandate to fully investigate and prosecute individuals charged with heinous crimes during this conflict and perhaps for crimes committed during the past two years in South Sudan. This will help in incorporating grievances of helpless civilians who were indiscriminately victimized, with no other option for redress.

Supreme legal institutions in the country have intentionally silenced crimes committed under the umbrella of political conflicts over the past few years. Under the theme of “high” national security interests, authorities in South Sudan have ignored accountability. Peace and justice must work in parallel. However, in South Sudan, our government has warmly and wholeheartedly welcomed potential war criminals without any procedures to hold them responsible for their criminal acts.

(Feb. 24, 2014) More than 250 million dollars has been raised so far in pledges for immediate humanitarian assistance for people affected by the crisis in the country.

The United Nations Humanitarian coordinator, Toby Lanzer says the money has been pledged by the governments of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and other partners.

Lanzer is winding up an International trip, to raise much needed funding for humanitarian assistance.

The money is urgently needed by humanitarian groups to preposition aid and make preparations before the start of the rainy season in April.

South Sudan has been independent for nearly three years. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, which had fought a decades-long war from the Republic of Sudan, assumed control of the government and began state-building.

By last July, ruling party rifts were playing out in public.

President Salva Kiir sacked a cabinet of dissenting voices, including vice president Riek Machar. In December, Machar and others had complained about a lack of democracy in decision-making in the government and party. Days later, fighting broke out in military barracks in Juba and the president accused Machar of attempting a coup – a charge Machar has denied. Machar and forces loyal to him fled the capital and regrouped to fight the government.

Observers say tensions had been growing for some time.

US special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, Donald Booth, was a participant at a recent roundtable discussion on the situation at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington.

Shrinking polical space

He said the violence represents a failure of leadership on all sides:

"Development efforts were given a back seat to individual ambitions," he explained. "The government attempted to contain and quell intercommunal violence without fully committing to the hard work of addressing its causes: economic disparity, historical grievances against other communities and political grievances due to real or perceived underrepresentation and disproportionate political influence at all levels of government.

"Institutions that were understandably weak at independence were allowed to stagnate, while the political elite vied instead for power in an ever - shrinking political space."

The Government of South Sudan rejects the accusation that there was a lack of political diversity in the government.

The Ambassador of South Sudan to the United States, Akec Khoc Aciew Khoc, who was a guest of the Washington discussion, said the government did include consultations with other parties. He cited policies put in place following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the Republic of Sudan in 2005.

"All the actors following the conclusion of the CPA," asserted Khoc, have had [a high level of] political space allotted to them. The government included all the political parties in its governance. Many of [those who] today feel excluded were very much in charge of running the show: the implementation of CPA, organizing elections [in 2010] and the referendum [on independence in 2011], overseeing economic development. It is not fair to assume that political space was reduced for those who are in opposition today.

From liberation to governance

Another panel participant, Jok Maduk Jok, said it was clear the liberation movement that had led South Sudan to independence was having trouble in its transition to ruling party – and to governing effectively.

Jok, the executive director of the Sudd Institute in Juba and professor of history at Loyola Marymount University in California, said "the lavish expenditures in state capitals and Juba is quite visible [ but few services in rural areas]. All of this was bound to cause an explosion – it was just a matter of time . What we didn’t know was what shape it would take: a popular uprising like the North African [Arab Spring] protests, or more rebellions by army commanders. [Would there be] more intensity in tribal militia wars or more civil contests of power within the SPLM leadership?"

The South Sudan analyst also said the military had become unmanageable, and costly. He said it’s the largest institution in the country, and absorbs up to 60% of the national budget. The government integrated opposition militias into the army, which led to a military – in his words -- “without ethos” or shared values. However, Jok said over half of the army is still made up of one ethnic group [Dinka], and fails to reflect national diversity.

The analyst said the government has also failed to find work for youth. He said over 70% of the population is under 30 years of age, and are susceptible to calls to take up arms to improve their lives.

According to Jok, the government has also failed to effectively advance reconciliation. Instead, violence continued after the signing of the CPA.

Ambassador Booth said the way forward includes an end to impunity for those behind attacks on civilians.

A way forward

"Those responsible for perpetrating human rights violations need to be held accountable, and the nation must invest in political reconciliation processes that can can support political dialogue and reform going forward," he said. "The African Union is establishing a commission of inquiry for South Sudan which we believe can serve as credible mechanism to ensure accountability for atrocities. We urge that this mechanism move forward expeditiously on its work."

Some human rights activists support the work of the government-appointed Committee for National Healing, Peace and Reconciliation, which is chaired by Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan [and Bishop of Juba Diocese], Daniel Deng Bul and co-chaired by Bishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Church, Paride Taban.

However, analyst Jok Maduk Jok is skeptical of its ability to promote reconciliation.

"There’s nothing wrong with having church leaders lead reconciliation," said Jok. But we have to look at the personalities and the history of ethnic relations in South Sudan… Daniel Deng comes from an ethnic group [Dinka] accused by other ethnic groups of all types of issues – and to lead it you need someone who is more acceptable to everyone. So a look at a more comprehensive reconciliation process that every one will buy into [is necessary]….

"The impunity of past must stop, because it is one of the reasons for the revenge and counter revenge going on. This would need to be built into any political settlement that emerges from Addis."

US envoy to Sudan and South Sudan Donald Booth said Washington supports mediators in the Ethiopian capital – who have been instructed to develop a framework for the next phase of negotiations in South Sudan. He said the process should include public consultations, including participants from across society: women, youth, the internally displaced, the diaspora, and opposition political parties

Ambassador Khoc said the government supports such an approach– and has invited leaders of the political opposition including Lam Akol of the SPLM-DC, or Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – Democratic Change, and [Luo] militia leader David Yao Yao.

Roundtable panelists also warned against allowing the manipulation of humanitarian aid by armed actors. They said it relieves them of the responsibility of feeding their people, allowing them to spend funds on waging war…and prolonging conflict. They said Khartoum used this to its advantage in the long war against southern independence, extending the region’s fight to become a separate nation by years.

Booth warned against what he called “business as usual” and “a quick fix and political accommodation for elites.” That would be a recipe, he said, for renewed conflict.

24 February 2014 - The UNMISS Indian and South Korean militaries have been providing vital medical, security and engineering services to displaced people in the Jonglei State capital Bor.

With more than 5,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) still sheltering at the UNMISS base, their work is desperately needed to curb congestion and prepare for looming rains.

When violence broke out, four Indian doctors treated civilians at the contingent’s clinic and protection of civilians’ area. They referred all serious casualties to the South Korean battalion’s hospital.

“We treated many civilian patients with gunshot wounds at the beginning,” said Dr. Ni Jin Uk, “Now we are treating many babies and pregnant women.”

At the Korean contingent’s hospital, which was set up for contingent soldiers and other UNMISS staff, several mothers were sitting with lactating babies, receiving attention from medical personnel.

Children were especially at risk, as diseases like measles and diarrhoea spread rapidly through the protection of civilian’s area, Dr. Ni said.

Although the facility was mainly intended for adult patients, it had children’s drugs for medical outreach in communities, even before the conflict began. Some UN agencies and non-governmental organizations have since assisted it with more medical supplies.

Also equipped with an emergency operating room, digital x-ray scan machine, blood testing laboratory, ultrasound equipment and dental care room, the hospital can treat all categories of patients.

“We don’t mind who they are,” said Dr. Ni. “We treat all patients (as long as) they are human.”

Both contingents have also carried out construction work at the protection of civilians’ area.

The Indian battalion, for example, expanded the current protection of civilians’ area from 200 by 150 metres to 500 by 500 metres. It also built five security posts around the perimeter, which the Korean engineering unit helped to reinforce.

The two contingents worked together to set up additional water points and latrines. Currently, the South Koreans are clearing grounds for a temporary new site ahead of the rains.

Medair relocates staff from Malakal as heavy fighting continues in South Sudan

24 February 2014. Medair withdrew its staff from Malakal yesterday amid escalating unrest within the town.

Heavy fighting in and around the northern South Sudanese town broke out on 18 February, with cross-community clashes also occurring in the UN base sheltering close to 25,000 people.

“Terrible things are happening in Malakal,” said Willem van Amerongen, Medair’s Deputy Country Director who was one of the staff to be relocated. “We’ve seen a lot of wounded people, and many are experiencing great sorrow because of losing loved ones and their homes. It has been reported that the town is completely destroyed.”

Medair has had a base in Malakal since 2008 helping displaced and conflict-affected communities with non-food items. Since early February the organisation’s health, nutrition and WASH emergency response team has been supporting assessments and providing WASH services in one community north of Malakal town. But as hostilities worsen, the team, who were taking shelter in a UN compound, were unable to safely continue their work. The movement of staff and supplies became increasingly difficult.

“We are deeply concerned for the needs of people caught up in the conflict,” said Caroline Boyd, Medair’s Country Director. “Despite temporarily suspending our work in the town, Medair’s emergency response team will continue to assess the situation and return to continue our work. We remain committed to helping wherever we can in South Sudan.”

In Renk town, Medair is continuing to provide emergency health, nutrition, and WASH services to displaced communities, the host population and to those who remain stranded after returning to the country from Sudan. In Yusuf Batil Camp in Maban County, health and nutrition services are being provided by Medair to Sudanese refugees, as well as clean water and sanitation facilities.

According to the UN, there are currently more than 716,000 people internally displaced within the country since fighting broke out on 16 December last year.

South Sudan became an independent nation on 9 July 2011. Medair has been present in the region since 1991 and has been providing safe water, sanitation, and hygiene to those most in need. Our overall goal is to increase access to health care and nutrition and provide emergency relief services.

For media: For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Abigail Woodcock, Press Relations Officer (English) Abigail.Woodcock@medair.org, +41 (0)78 635 30 95

For more information on Medair’s South Sudan programme, visit medair.org/south-sudan

Medair’s South Sudan programme is supported by the E.C Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection, the United States Agency for International Development, Common Humanitarian Fund, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and private donors. Figures are taken from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair’s most recent situation report, dated 20 February 2014.

Medair helps people who are suffering in remote and devastated communities around the world survive crises, recover with dignity, and develop skills to build a better future.