07/09/2014 14:50 GMT

KHARTOUM, July 9, 2014 (AFP) - Life-saving aid could move from Sudan to its former enemy South Sudan under a deal to feed some of the millions battling hunger in the war-torn South, a diplomat said Wednesday.

The two countries signed on Tuesday evening a memorandum of understanding for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to deliver food to northern South Sudan, said Kau Nak, the South's charge d'affaires in Khartoum.

"It's a kind of a life-saving mission," he told AFP on the third anniversary of the South's separation from Sudan.

More than 1.5 million people have been forced to flee almost seven months of war, after a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar spiralled into brutal ethnic conflict.

Aid agencies have warned that without massive funding, famine zones will be declared within weeks.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has already been forced to airdrop food in an effort to keep isolated groups of displaced people alive, in what it called a "last resort" operation.

Plans call for WFP aid to be transported from Sudan to "the devastated Upper Nile, Jonglei and Unity states" in the South, according to a July 7 memo from South Sudan's Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management.

South Sudan separated from the north on July 9, 2011 after an overwhelming vote for independence under a peace deal that ended a 22-year civil war.

Tensions persisted between north and south, leading to border fighting in 2012.

Relations had begun to improve late last year, just before the South descended into what Oxfam, an aid group, calls Africa's worst crisis.

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© 1994-2014 Agence France-Presse

Regional Response Appeal to assist displaced populations

Following the South Sudan crisis which has left many people killed and displaced, NRC has launched a regional emergency appeal to make it possible for a meaningful humanitarian action to take place.

During a recent visit to Awerial, NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland witnessed the poor conditions that internally displaced persons were living in, with multiple families clustered around every tree or bush seeking shelter from harsh climate.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than one million South Sudanese have become displaced from their homes. Additionally, more than 200,000 have fled across borders into Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan. Hopefully, together we can be able to provide urgent and meaningful assistance to the people of South Sudan and other countries in the region.

NRC was recently represented at the High Level Humanitarian Conference on South Sudan held on 19th and 20th of May in Oslo, Norway. Aid agencies are seeking a total of US$1.8 billion this year for South Sudan to save lives, prevent a famine and avert the loss of another generation of South Sudanese children.

Emergency rapid response teams have been deployed into the country to provide assistance to displaced populations in the two main camps in Juba and further north to Awerial County, Lakes state where approximately 75,000 IDPs, mostly from Jonglei, are being hosted.

Through its deployments, NRC has been able to provide non-food items and shelters to 12,000 households (72,000 individuals) and legal assistance and counselling services to 1,052 people. 1,997 pupils in Awerial, Lakes State and an additional 489 in Central Equatoria are benefitting from education-in-emergency programme. NRC has also constructed temporary houses which are sheltering 440 families, and is providing legal and counselling services to 2,372 people.

NRC is working together with UNHCR to support recurrent conflict IDPs in Unity State. In June, NRC distributed 7,000 NFIs to displaced and vulnerable host community families, and plans to open a new operational base within the State from where emergency operations will be rolled out to Koch and Panyijar.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyani, visited South Sudan from 6 to 15 November 2013. This was the Mandate’s first visit to the country after its independence in 2011 at a time where tensions were very high and indicative of the violence that broke out in December and unfolded into an armed conflict that not only worsened the dire situation of those who had been displaced before the crisis, but resulted in a large-scale displacement and protection crisis

The UN Special Rapporteur’s primary finding was the absence of adequate capacities and institutional preparedness to prevent and respond to internal displacement in the short-, medium-, and longer-term. As the primary responsibility to assist and protect internally displaced persons rests with authorities, necessary institutional capacity within the civilian government must be created for them to assume this wide responsibility. The current displacement situation also requires reconsidering necessary and institutional changes within the UN Mission in South Sudan as well as the humanitarian and human rights protection system in South Sudan. Most notably, utmost care must be given to preserve humanitarian space and ensure that humanitarian and protection principles are not further infringed.

Prevention must be a priority call now. In order to prevent a further increase of internal displacement and allow for dignified living conditions and a solution for the displaced, it is essential that all parties abstain from any act that results into arbitrary internal displacement and adhere to the Cessation of hostilities agreement of January 2014 and applicable rules of international law. The complexity and scale of the internal displacement situation also requires for a response based on a comprehensive policy framework and considering the different groups among the displaced as well as their immediate and longer-term needs to allow for a gradual process towards durable solutions for South Sudan’s IDPs.

Comments on the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in South Sudan from 6 to 15 November 2013.

1. The Government of South Sudan expresses its appreciation to the visit of the Special Rapporteur, Dr Chaloka Beyani in order to acquaint himself with the conditions of the internally displaced persons in South Sudan. During his visit he has gathered a lot of information on the situation of IDPs which constitute the basis of rending his Report. The Report reflects his findings and observations taking into consideration the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement which seek to protect all internally displaced persons in internal conflict situations, natural disasters and other situations of forced displacement.
   These Principles are consistent with international human rights law and international humanitarian law and other international standards relevant to the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons.

2. The Government appreciates the Special Rapporteur’s Report which is designed to address the challenges the IDPs are facing in the Republic of South Sudan due to a number of factors. The Government is also appreciative of the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on issues relating to improving the conditions of IDPs and supporting the institutional capacity building in collaboration with other stakeholders. However, the Report contains quite a number of issues of concern which deserve clarifications. In order to clarify the position of the Government, the Government has made the following comments on the preceding paragraphs of the Report.

• Torrential rains impacted coastal Cote D’Ivoire during the past week.

• An increase in rain was observed across dry areas in northwestern Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan

1) Heavy and above-average rains since May have oversaturated the grounds of southern Mali and lead to rainfall surpluses greater than 200% of normal in some locations. With heavy rain forecast during the next outlook period, the risk for new flooding across the region will be increased.

2) Above-average rain during the past thirty-days has resulted in saturated grounds and localized flooding in parts of South Sudan and southern Sudan. With above-average rain forecast during the next week, the risk for localized flash flooding is elevated.

Greater humanitarian and development efforts needed to meet IDPs’ growing needs

9 July 2014 - Even before the crisis, many South Sudanese people saw no reason to celebrate independence, internally displaced persons (IDPs) said in Juba recently, ahead of today’s third independence anniversary celebrations.

As the country commemorated the anniversary, the mood in protection-of-civilians sites on UNMISS bases in the national capital could be described as indifferent.

“There is nothing to celebrate when you are living in an IDP camp,” said Pastor Peter Chuol, who has been living at an UNMISS protection site in Juba since 16 December 2013. “Even before the crisis started, we did not celebrate. Celebrate what?”

According to Mr. Chuol and several other men now living at the newest protection site next to the Mission’s headquarters, they got the feeling soon after independence that it was not a national achievement.

“We fought for 57 years and won,” said Isaac Kuech, a policeman and former Yirol County Commissioner in Jonglei State, from where he hails. “Then, it started to appear that only some tribes had gained independence. I am South Sudanese, but I don’t feel like a citizen.”

As the pastor’s three sons cleared grass under his new shelter, he said he was happier to be in a “camp” with UNMISS protection, than at his house in Juba town because “we are safe here”.

The rest of Mr. Chuol’s family left the protection sites to move to Kakuma camp in Kenya, while relatives who were living at his ancestral home in the Upper Nile capital Malakal moved to the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

“Since the day I left my house, I have never seen it again. This is now my house,” he said, pointing at wooden structures over which his sons were going to put plastic sheets distributed by humanitarian partners.

“We have been told that soldiers took over the houses and if you went to reclaim them, you might be killed. Is that independence?”

Seven months since they started living in the protection sites, the men said they had no immediate plan to return home.

“I am a policeman,” said Mr.Kuech. “I know that out there, we are supposed to help people feel secure, but if I am unable to return, how can you expect civilians to go back?”

As senior citizens of their communities, the men were adamant that there was no other solution to South Sudan’s crisis except federalism.

“We cannot live as one people,” said Mr. Kuech. “There are too many grievances for us to ever be united under one leader, no matter which tribe that leader comes from. The best way would be for us to all be settled in specific areas as tribes.”

Mr. Chuol said that as a pastor, it was difficult sometimes to preach or give any words of encouragement to hungry women and children living in muddy conditions and at risk of disease.

“Yet in the end, that is all we have,” he said. “God has brought this to us. As a pastor, I pray that He will heal our hearts, comfort widows and orphans, change our leaders’ hearts and give us peace.”

9 July 2014 - The South Sudanese people voted in the referendum to become “first class citizens” in their own country, but were now at risk of losing that freedom, President Salva Kiir Mayardit said in Juba today as the country commemorated its third Independence Day anniversary.

“What you are doing today, people of South Sudan, cannot make you a free state,” said President Kiir. “Instead, the “F” for “free” can be turned to “failed”. That is what our enemies want. Do we encourage them on that route or do we prove them wrong? That is up to you also to decide.”

The challenge of the internal crisis in the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) should not be allowed to destroy gains of the liberation struggle or the social co-existence of communities, he said.

Noting that peace negotiations in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa had stalled “because the other party has so many demands which will not take us anywhere”, the President urged all South Sudanese to focus on peace and reconciliation.

Blame games would not get the country anywhere, he said, adding that a peaceful solution had to be found. He also invited former political detainees to join the government and try to find a solution to the crisis.

President Kiir noted that another challenge to the country’s unity and nation building was attempts to create a culture of violence and hatred on the basis of ethnicity and regionalism.

He emphasized that although the quest to achieve independence had been accomplished, the country’s mission was not finished.

“It was just the beginning of another difficult mission – to develop South Sudan,” said President Kiir. “That was the beginning of that journey.”

The real war after liberation was one for economic independence, he said, noting that despite having enormous fertile lands and abundance of rains for most of the year, the country continued to import food from neighbouring countries.

“This is really a very embarrassing and challenging situation,” he said. “This should be the real war that we must all fight without ceasefire – to liberate ourselves economically.”

The President thanked his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni, who was present at the ceremony, for his support and prompt intervention when the conflict started in December 2013.

“There will be problems, but the fact of your independence is irreversible,” said President Museveni. “Countries and societies are like human beings. As you grow up, you face a lot of challenges, but if you learn from those challenges and find solutions, you will succeed.”

Today marks the third anniversary of South Sudan’s independence. Since that hard-won achievement, the celebration has been tragically short-lived. The world’s youngest country was fragile and underdeveloped, but making the first steps of progress when violent conflict erupted this past December.

Since then, a catastrophic humanitarian crisis has engulfed the nation at a shocking rate. More than 1.5 million people have fled their homes. Cholera is spreading rapidly during the current rainy season and local water systems, many of which have been contaminated, are unable to meet the mounting needs of so many people crowded into unsanitary conditions.

Most alarming: Right now roughly 3.5 million people — 30 percent of South Sudan’s population — are experiencing acute emergency levels of food insecurity. Africa’s worst famine in more than two decades could hit as soon as August.

“There is no time to wait, action is needed now. Signs of malnutrition are present and a famine is predicted on the near horizon,” said Mercy Corps’ new Country Director in South Sudan, Mohammed Qazilbash. “People are even resorting to eating soil and grasses.”

Mercy Corps and our fellow humanitarian organizations are working to provide lifesaving assistance to those who need it most – but we need extraordinary support in the face of extraordinary demands. Below are five immediate needs that can help prevent major loss of life in South Sudan.

1.- Peace: In just seven months, conflict has driven 1.5 million from their homes. Violence persists daily, displacing new families into the bush or crowded displacement sites. Because of the conflict, families have been unable to plant their crops, taking the country from food-insecure to the edge of devastating famine.

2.- Reach: We must help the people most at risk, including children, adolescents, and women living in opposition-controlled or isolated areas. Famine will hit the hardest in these difficult-to-access places, and we need support to reach those with the most urgent needs.

3.- Access: Opposition forces and the governments of South Sudan and bordering countries control the roads, rivers and airports that we need to provide lifesaving supplies. The young nation’s lack of pre-existing infrastructure, coupled with flooding, makes transportation even more challenging. Pathways must be kept open to allow us to reach the remote areas where people are most in need.

4.- Funding: A global response plan is in place, but the U.N. estimates that it will take $1.8 billion to address humanitarian needs of all those affected by this crisis. Less then half of that that funding has been raised. Donors, from governments to individuals, must help with that effort and increase supplies of food, water, shelter and sanitation for the people of South Sudan.

5.- Your help: Since expanding our emergency response in January, Mercy Corps has increased crisis education across the country and become the leading provider of clean water, sanitation and hygiene services in famine-threatened Bentiu, Unity State. We’ve built safe spaces for children in the camps and distributed seeds and fast-growing crops to families in more secure areas. But we must do more. Your support will help us scale up our response — distributing emergency food, clean water and health supplies more quickly and more widely — to meet these massive needs.

Three years ago, we celebrated along with South Sudan and began the long journey of development to help the new nation build secure, productive and just communities. We know we can get there again.

“Mothers and fathers just want their kids to go to school, to be safe,” said Qazilbash. “They want a break from the violence and a chance to live their lives in a dignified manner. That’s all they want…to have a future.”

Surviving and thriving as a new country is no easy feat. Mercy Corps has stood with the people of South Sudan throughout its struggle for independence, and we must stand with them today to prevent more tragedy and help them build a better future.

How you can help

Make a gift to support Mercy Corps' emergency response work in South Sudan and around the world. You'll help families survive the crisis here and the hardships they face in many of the world's toughest places. Donate today ▸

Today is South Sudan’s Independence Day – the country’s third.

It’s a day of mixed emotions. For the last six months, South Sudan has been plunged into violence and chaos.

Over a million children and their families have been forced to flee their homes.

And now cholera has broken out

This highly infectious and potentially fatal disease is sweeping the country with outbreaks or alerts in nine of the 10 states. In Eastern Equatoria State alone, more than 20 people have died.

But despite the many challenges this young country faces, the people I have met here still have hope.

A search for help in the middle of the night

I met Afisha* after a long, arduous journey to a rural village in Eastern Equatoria. Afisha had made a journey too – in the middle of the night, on foot with her two sick children – 5-year-old William* and 3-year-old Sarah*.

“I knew that cholera was spreading all over the area,” she told me. “I had seen with my own eyes people getting sick. The first thing that came into my mind was that my children had cholera.”

Cholera has already brought tragedy to this family

Afisha knows how dangerous cholera can be. “I had four children but two died. My 4-year-old child got sick in the same way as William and Sarah. There were no drugs then, and very quickly my child died.

“The same thing happened to my 2-year-old. The same symptoms, the same illness. That child also passed away.”

To think that she was facing the likelihood of losing her remaining children to the same dreadful disease was just heartbreaking.

The response is underway

Fortunately, things are changing for parents like Afisha. This centre is just one of the many health facilities that Save the Children is supporting in Eastern Equatoria.

Save the Children is providing basic but essential items as well as the life-saving medicines, equipment, and medical staff needed to treat cholera. We are also training people to go out into the communities to spread messages about cholera prevention.

Saving lives, changing outcomes

Without this health centre, William and Sarah would likely have succumbed to the same fate as their siblings.

I left the health centre feeling hopeful about the future of South Sudan, knowing we are working in hard-to-reach locations, saving lives and changing outcomes.

“Cholera will come and go, we can’t control that,” says Afisha. “But the health centre taught me how to prevent the spread of cholera. I am very grateful to the people here: they have done marvelous things.”

*Names changed to protect identities

07/10/2014 02:14 GMT

by Aymeric VINCENOT

JUBA, July 10, 2014 (AFP) - South Sudan's warring leaders called on each other to restart peace talks Wednesday, all the while trading blame for a raging civil war that marred independence celebrations in the world's youngest nation.

"Put down your guns and come home," President Salva Kiir appealed to rebels, in a speech to mark three years of independence, before accusing his rival and former deputy Riek Machar of launching renewed attacks in the nearly seven-month-old civil war that has brought the nation to the brink of famine.

Thousands waved flags at military parades Wednesday, despite having little to celebrate in a nation ravaged by ethnic atrocities.

Analysts say both sides believe the war is still winnable by force.

The streets of the capital were lined with banners proclaiming "One People, One Nation", amid a show of force with a military parade and speeches to celebrate the breakaway from the repressive government in Khartoum.

Three ceasefire deals have failed to stick, and peace talks in luxury hotels in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa have made little progress.

Last month they halted indefinitely, with both sides refusing to attend the discussions, and blaming each other for the failure.

"If we don't stop war many of our people will continue to die," Kiir said, while insisting he was "still committed" to the talks.

However, Kiir also dismissed rebel demands that Ugandan troops propping up his government leave the country, saying they will remain "until I am sure that we are safe and our institutions are protected".

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was one of the few senior regional leaders to attend, with old enemy Sudan sending its second vice-president.

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged South Sudan's leaders to show "courage and leadership" by halting the deadly violence.

"It is high time to honor fully the Cessation of Hostilities agreement of January 23 to end the violence, especially the violence being targeted against civilians," Kerry said in a statement

The young nation has been wracked by war since mid-December, when presidential guards loyal to Kiir clashed with troops supporting Machar, who fled to the bush and rallied a huge rebel army.

Machar, speaking in the Ethiopian capital, said he was "ready to talk", but he also lashed out at the "tyranny" of Kiir's government, and called for sanctions on the leaders in Juba.

Under Kiir, "our country witnessed nothing but dictatorship, anarchy, corruption, tribalism and lack of development", Machar said.

• 'Sick' leaders -

At government-organised celebrations in the heart of the capital, dance troupes draped in the national flag sang and danced, as drummers banged out beats to shrug off the mood of gloom.

"Some people are not in a good mood... but I hope by next year all of us will be happy and we will celebrate together as citizens of one nation," said Andrew Chol, 24.

"It's a sad anniversary," admitted Juba resident Gideon, 23, saying he had hoped for better three years on from the fanfare and optimism that swept the country in July 2011.

The fighting has been marked by widespread atrocities against both members of the Nuer people, to which Machar belongs, and Kiir's Dinka group, the country's largest tribe.

Civilians have been massacred and dumped in mass graves, patients murdered in hospitals and churches, and entire towns flattened as urban centres, including key oil-producing hubs, changed hands several times.

The most conservative estimates put the toll at 10,000 dead, although aid workers say the real figure is likely far higher.

Almost 100,000 civilians are sheltering in squalid camps inside UN bases fearing revenge attacks if they leave.

Aid group Oxfam said South Sudan was "currently Africa's worst crisis with nearly four million -- a third of the country's population -- at risk of severe hunger and an aid effort that has only so far reached half of those in need".

"The world's attention is elsewhere as Africa's worst humanitarian catastrophe descends into more misery. We will be staring into the abyss and fail to avert a famine if funds do not start arriving soon to help the people of South Sudan at risk of starvation, disease and violence," said Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam International chief.

"If the aid effort does not increase 50,000 children could die from malnutrition. Since the current crisis began in December last year fighting has forced 1.5 million people from their homes and numbers continue to rise."

Kau Nak, the South's charge d'affaires in Khartoum, meanwhile said life-saving aid could move from Sudan to its former enemy.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to deliver food to northern South Sudan.

On the eve of the anniversary, the departing UN representative in South Sudan issued a scathing attack on the country's leaders, calling them a "self-serving elite" responsible for a looming "man-made famine".

"Thousands and thousands have been killed," said Hilde Johnson of the UN mission in South Sudan, lashing out at both the government and rebels, warning that one of world's least developed nations has "been set back decades".

Leaders are sick with "the cancer of corruption" and the country's billions of dollars worth of oil are "a curse rather than a blessing", she said.

Campaign group Global Witness said the government had borrowed the "monumental sum" of $1 billion this year from oil companies to "pay off last year's debts", about the same amount the United Nations is appealing for donors to fund in terms of aid.

burs/gk/jta

© 1994-2014 Agence France-Presse

Highlights:

• With UNICEF support, the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness and Bureaus in eight regions (Oromia, Amhara, Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella, Afar, Somali, SNNPR, and Tigray) revised their 2014 multi-sectoral Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans during May and June 2014.

• The yearly assessment of the belg/gu/sugum seasonal rains and its impact on the humanitarian situation started in June. The results of the assessment will be used to update the 2014 Humanitarian Requirement Document – the joint Government and partners’ humanitarian appeal.

• The 2014 April country-wide admission into the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programme was 21,105 (84.4 per cent reporting rate), which is similar to the admissions in March 2014. Compared to April 2013, this year’s admission decreased by nearly 11 per cent. CMAM nutrition supply is secured until the end of the year.

• As of 30 June 2014, more than 150,000 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Ethiopia – 94 per cent of the new arrivals are women and children. UNICEF continue to support the South Sudan refugee response through the secondment of WASH, Child Protection, Heath, Nutrition and Education specialists to UNHCR in Gambella to support the coordination of sectoral emergency response, and provide technical guidance to the Government and partners.

SITUATION IN NUMBERS

2.7 million
People will require emergency food assistance in 2014 (HRD 2014)

238,761
Children will requiring treatment for severe acute malnutrition in 2014(HRD 2014) – 81,300 children have been treated by April 2014

150,000
South Sudanese refugees arrived to Ethiopia since December 15 2013 (UNHCR July 2014)

UNICEF humanitarian appeal 2014 (HAC 2014) is US$ 36.08 million - 24% funded

Highlights

• South Sudan is facing a hunger catastrophe, with the number of children dying of malnutrition-related causes increasing drastically. An estimated 235,000 children under 5 will require treatment for severe acute malnutrition this year, twice as many as last year. To respond to this dire situation, UNICEF and WFP are stepping up rapid response missions to remote areas, as well as increasing partnerships, supplies and technical assistance. UNICEF urgently needs $29.8 million to scale up its nutrition response.

• As of 7 July, 2,943 cholera cases including 69 deaths (Case Fatality Rate: 2.3%) have been reported affecting six states. Over 560 suspected cases appeared in the first week of the outbreak in Wau Shiluk, with 17 deaths. Cases are also spreading quickly in Eastern Equatoria, most recently in North Kapoeta. Communities along the Nile and in the Nile basin are at extremely high risk.

• During the week, the availability of safe water in Bentiu Protection of Civilian areas increased from 6.5L to 9.1L per person, moving above agreed emergency standards. There is now 1 latrine for every 80 people, an improvement from 1 latrine per 140 people previously. Work continues to improve safe water and sanitation provision in the PoCs.

SITUATION IN NUMBERS

1.1 million
People internally displaced since 15 December (OCHA, SitRep #43 dated 3 July, 2014)

588,222
Estimated internally displaced children under 18 years

Outside South Sudan401,770
Estimated refugees in neighbouring countries (OCHA, SitRep # 43 dated 3 July, 2014)

Priority Humanitarian Funding needs January - December 2014
US$ 151.7 million

July 9, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese government has officially agreed to allow the transit of humanitarian aid to the neighbouring South Sudan in order to avoid a humanitarian disaster following the eruption of fighting since December 2013.

The foreign ministry in Khartoum announced that the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to allow the expedition of aid across its border and river transport to feed thousands of affected civilians.

The bilateral agreement, which was signed on Tuesday by Sudanese acting commissioner for humanitarian aid, Ali Adam and South Sudanese ambassador to Khartoum, provides that UN World Food Programme (WFP) will be tasked with the transportation of relief.

Following a meeting with the then head of UN Mission in South Sudan, Hilde Johnson last month, Sudan’s first vice-president Bakri Hassan Saleh agreed to facilitate the transportation of humanitarian assistance to South Sudan.

Days before the end of its tenure, Johnson told reporters in New York that UN officials are worried that famine could hit the new country in a few months.

"This is one of the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world and we are worried that famine can come within any time and hit levels that we have not seen before in the history of South Sudan", she further said.

Last May The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS-Net) said that about 3.5 million South Sudanese are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. 2.4 million people face food insecurity at the Crisis level and 1.1 million people are at the Emergency level.

The roughly 30 percent of the population is mainly concentrated in the troubled Unity, Upper Nile and Jongeli states which are not fare from the Sudanese border.

(ST)

The pledge was made during a recent visit by Vice President Wani Igga to China.

The Vice President says the funding will be used to purchase drugs and medical supplies for the Mayardit hospital.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government has also pledged its continued support for the ongoing peace process.

Vice President Wani Igga says officials of the Chinese People’s party have offered training for SPLM carders.

Wani Igga: “The CPC is ready to train SPLM cadres up to the tune of 40 personnel and these will be trained in China, two groups of 20 each at different times but beginning in July. The second group will be somewhere around November this year so it has a wealth of experience – the SPLM can definitely benefit from them organizationally and all aspects of building. Announcement of new grants for this year alone 20-14 totaling to 24miln US dollars plus 1.4 million worth of drugs for Mayardit hospital”.

The consultations include general surgeries for people who have suffered serious injury, mainly gunshot wounds.

AMREF country Director, George Bhoka says they are targeting up to three thousand cases.

George Bhoka: “We are forecasting that in the short and medium term we are likely to reach about 3,000 consultations. What we are basically doing is general surgery and orthopedic surgery. In general surgery we provide treatment for people that are injured in various hospitals, in orthopedic surgery we basically look at cases that are fractures e.g broken bones that need to be repaired. So what we basically do is to organize specialists from the East African region, working closely with specialists in Juba teaching hospital and Wau to screen the cases and operate them within the country.”

Posted by Linda Etim on Wednesday, July 9th 2014

Three years after the Republic of South Sudan’s exhilarating independence on July 9, 2011, following decades of civil war, the people of this young nation are facing their most dire crisis yet.

Since fighting erupted in the capital of Juba in December 2013, thousands of South Sudanese have been killed or traumatized and more than 1.5 million have been displaced. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently told the U.N. Security Council that by the end of 2014, half of South Sudan’s population of 12 million will be in flight, facing starvation or dead.

When I returned to South Sudan in May for the first time since the crisis began, the significance of this tragedy was clear. Tension and fear permeate the capital, Juba. Women and children no longer fill the streets as they used to, walking safely to school and marketplaces. Some parts of town are empty of residents, who now live in crowded sites in squalid conditions, afraid to go home after violence they witnessed months ago. The U.S. Government is working with heroic South Sudanese staff and international partners to respond to this heartbreaking crisis with urgency within South Sudan and in neighboring countries that are hosting South Sudanese refugees, increasing our food and other lifesaving assistance and adjusting our existing development programs to respond to the current crisis.

In the desperate and crowded conditions where tens of thousands of South Sudanese are now taking shelter, hygiene and sanitation are a major concern, as illnesses such as cholera could spark an epidemic. Since April, the U.N. World Health Organization has reported more than 2,900 cases of cholera, including 67 deaths in South Sudan, primarily in Juba and surrounding areas. Through radio and innovative means of reaching displaced populations, such as loudspeaker announcements delivered by quad bike in compounds where displaced people have taken shelter, we are reaching tens of thousands of South Sudanese with important information on topics such as hygiene and how to prevent cholera. Ninety-eight percent of residents sheltering at the U.N. Tongping protection site are familiar with the program, a survey by our partner Internews showed, and two-thirds said they had changed their behavior, in hygiene or other ways, as a result of information from the program.

In Mingkaman, Lakes State, which hosts South Sudan’s largest displaced population, I saw the importance of USAID support for an FM radio station that broadcasts information to tens of thousands of people, including programs on available medical services and clean water, and safety issues such as the danger of crocodiles in the nearby river where people bathe. This station and other USAID-supported radio stations have call-in shows that give citizens a platform to say what they have been through – an important outlet in a traumatized society.

In response to a nationwide stockout of essential drugs including antibiotics and anti-malaria medication, and with funds contributed by the United States, Norway and the United Kingdom, we are delivering desperately needed basic medicines to cover the entire population of South Sudan for one year. In the midst of conflict and the rainy season, which makes many areas impassable by road, this is no easy feat. But through our ongoing advocacy efforts, we have secured government permission to deliver to the most conflict-affected states of Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei, where needs are greatest and tensions between opposing forces highest.

As tens of thousands of children have fled their homes due to violence, we launched a new program with UNICEF to provide education to 150,000 displaced children, so that they have safe spaces and materials to learn. This effort includes targeting 60,000 girls for education, as part of USAID’s Let Girls Learn initiative. A grateful educator told me during the event in Juba where we launched the program that South Sudan’s children have the right to learn, despite the challenging circumstances they face, and that our investment in these children would last even if buildings and roads were destroyed during the fighting. Education creates an important sense of normalcy in the lives of children affected by violence. It is critical that the next generation in South Sudan is literate and gains life skills through education, which can help avert the cycle of violence that has defined South Sudan’s tragic history.

In a polarized conflict situation, it is also important to enable many citizens’ voices to be heard and many viewpoints expressed. So we are helping to strengthen civil society in South Sudan, including by providing support to enable civil society organizations to participate in South Sudan’s peace process. What I heard repeatedly from all of the citizens I talked to was that peace is possible—and that it is the one thing that everyone could agree on.

And perhaps most urgently, famine conditions threaten up to 1 million people in parts of South Sudan. In addition to lifesaving humanitarian assistance including food, nutrition and clean water, USAID funds the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), which is providing crucial information on crops and food availability. This information, along with other sources of information about the growing humanitarian crisis, galvanized the international community to provide more than $618 million in needed humanitarian funds at a conference in Oslo in May – nearly half provided by the United States.

We are continuing to provide assistance in agriculture, focused in the relatively stable Equatoria states, where agricultural potential is greatest. Before conflict erupted, USAID assistance to farmers in the Equatoria states helped them achieve a tripling of crop yields – an achievement we can build on to strengthen food security in South Sudan.

While the people of South Sudan have in many ways not yet reaped the benefits of their independence, I came away from my latest visit reassured that the efforts of those responding to the crisis are saving lives, and that many more people in South Sudan are committed to peace and an inclusive future than those who are content to tear their nation apart. I was asked by a reporter on the day I was leaving South Sudan if the United States thought it could save South Sudan. After hearing the stories of a diverse, proud, and resilient nation of people, I was able to respond that we could be part of the solution that the South Sudanese people are fashioning for themselves.

As we reflect on South Sudan’s third anniversary of nationhood, USAID remains more committed than ever to the people of South Sudan and we will continue to help them build the peaceful and secure future they deserve.

Small Arms Survey 2014: Women and Guns considers the multiple roles of women in the context of armed violence, security, and the small arms agenda.

The volume’s thematic section comprises one chapter on violence against women and girls—with a focus on post-conflict Liberia and Nepal—and another on the recent convergence of the small arms agenda with that of women, peace, and security. Complementing these chapters are illustrated testimonies of women with experience as soldiers, rebels, and security personnel.

The ‘weapons and markets’ section assesses the potential impact of the Arms Trade Treaty, presents the 2014 Transparency Barometer and an update on the authorized small arms trade, and analyses recent ammunition explosions in the Republic of the Congo.

In addition, it examines ammunition circulating in Africa and the Middle East, maps the sources of insurgent weapons in Sudan and South Sudan, and evaluates crime gun records in the United States.

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By James Copnall BBC South Sudan analyst

At night, the glow from the lights of the oil installations in Paloich cuts through many miles of undeveloped South Sudanese countryside.

During the day, the gleaming pipes and hard edges of modern technology stand in stark contrast to the simple huts of the nearby villages.

Read the full article on the BBC