Highlights

Conflict continues as the main actors have not yet reached a political resolution.

Violence intensified in the dry season with more displaced people and worsening humanitarian needs.

The country’s economy is in a precarious position.

Access constraints are impeding delivery of humanitarian assistance to high risk areas due to insecurity and poor infrastructure.

Severe food insecurity and high risk of famine will worsen the situation.

An increase in the malnutrition rate among children places thousands at risk of SAM.

Recurrent communicable disease outbreaks due to poor living conditions, low immunization coverage, etc.

Weak health system and service delivery at all levels, with over 80% of services being provided by international organizations.

Secondary health care in the crisis affected states remains poor with limited surgical capacity.

Humanitarian actors are making efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and deploying rapid response teams in high risk areas.

PEOPLE AFFECTED

6 400 000 affected population

3 358 100 of those in affected, targeted for health cluster support

1 500 000 internally displaced

504 539 refugees

Unaccompanied boys and girls are among the hundreds of thousands of people who have been fleeing continuing violence, from South Sudan into neighbouring Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya. The use of a "snapshot book" by the ICRC and local Red Cross Societies is helping both adults and children find missing relatives. Since the beginning of the year, about 120 matches have been made.

The first books of more than 500 pictures of adults and unaccompanied children were taken in refugee camps in Gambella, Ethiopia, and were shown in January and February in camps and other places in South Sudan, Kenya and Uganda. "This book is filling a major gap," said Natalie Klein-Kelly, an ICRC delegate in Ethiopia working on the project. "We've had quite a few cases in which people feared their loved ones had not survived, but in fact they had simply run in a different direction."

While peace talks continue, fighting plagues South Sudanese communities in Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei states. Hundreds of thousands have fled. The ICRC, together with local Red Cross Societies, is helping to put members of separated families back in touch through phone calls, Red Cross Messages (brief, written, personal messages), tracing requests and a photo-tracing initiative called Snapshot.

When violence breaks out, people scatter in search of safety. If a young child is alone at the time, he or she might run off alongside other people but get separated from family.

The ICRC takes photos of people searching for their loved ones, then shows these to displaced people in widely scattered locations. The books list refugees by place of origin, and not by name, to enable a partly illiterate population to more easily find relatives.

"The Snapshot book is something people naturally want to go through page by page," said Klein-Kelly. "We have jokingly been calling it 'Refugee Facebook!'"

Photos taken in Ethiopia

Refugees who know where a loved one is can send Red Cross Messages. Refugees in Gambella, Ethiopia have sent nearly 12,000 such messages. About 10 percent of the participants are minors.

An 18-year-old woman wrote a Red Cross Message to her mother after finding a photo of her. "We were overjoyed to see your picture in the ICRC book. Your grandchildren are fine and they have also seen your picture."

A girl wrote to her mother: "There is no way for us to get to your location. Keep my phone number, which I am writing on this paper."

Only about half of the South Sudanese refugees in Gambella have phones. The ICRC provides the use of mobile or satellite phones free of charge to help reconnect people with their families.

In South Sudan last year, ICRC tracing delegates registered some 100 unaccompanied children, 53 of whom have since been reunited with their families. This process often takes weeks or months of patient, careful work and may involve partners such as the South Sudan Red Cross, the Ethiopian Red Cross, the Kenya Red Cross and the Uganda Red Cross.

Similar efforts to restore family links are taking place in Uganda, where 256 unaccompanied children have been registered. Currently 89 are still in search of their family. More than 6,000 ICRC phone calls have been made by South Sudanese refugees in Uganda. The ICRC also registered over 50 unaccompanied children and enabled South Sudanese refugees in Kakuma camp in Kenya to make 3,000 phone calls in 2014. So far in 2015, the use of the Snapshot book in Kenya has resulted in 45 matches between separated family members.

Tackling child recruitment

There are growing reports of children being forced to join armed groups. The ICRC tirelessly reminds all parties to the conflict of their obligation to comply with international humanitarian law, including the absolute prohibition on the recruitment and use of children by armed forces and armed groups. If approached by the family of a child allegedly recruited, the ICRC can try to locate that child by means of direct and confidential dialogue with the entity concerned.

Providing relief

Since the outbreak of this conflict in December 2013, the ICRC has worked closely with the South Sudan Red Cross to deliver food, drinking water, seed and tools to those in need. Meanwhile, ICRC surgical teams have been treating people wounded by the fighting.

In all, the ICRC has:

• provided over 940,000 monthly food rations, helping over 150,000 people in the worst affected areas on a regular basis
• furnished over 500,000 people with seed, tools, and fishing equipment
• brought drinking water to nearly 300,000 people
• performed more than 4,000 operations in 15 locations (5 surgical teams)
• visited 6,400 detainees
• made possible over 14,000 phone calls to help restore family links.

For further information, please contact: Pawel Krzysiek, ICRC Juba, tel: +211 912 360 038 @pawelkrzysiek Jason Straziuso, ICRC Nairobi, tel: +254 733 622 026 @ICRC_Africa Jean-Yves Clémenzo, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 22 71 or +41 79 217 32 17 @JClemenzoICRC

HIGHLIGHTS

• FAO has further raised its estimate of the 2014 world cereal production and its forecast for global cereal stocks. Early prospects for cereal supplies in 2015/16 are mostly favourable, partly sustained by large stocks accumulated over the previous two seasons.

• FAO’s first forecast for global wheat production in 2015 indicates a likely small contraction, mostly reflecting an expected decline in Europe from last year’s record output.

• Export prices of wheat and maize continued to decline in February, as result of ample world supplies and strong export competition. International quotations of rice also remained under downward pressure.

• AFRICA: In Southern and Central Africa the early 2015 production outlook remains uncertain, mostly due to adverse weather conditions, while in North Africa prospects are positive. This follows a bumper 2014 output, reflecting strong production gains in East and southern African countries that more than compensated for a weather-depressed output in West and North Africa. Persisting conflicts in several countries have led to increasing food insecurity, in addition to lowering production prospects in the affected areas.

• ASIA: The preliminary outlook for the 2015 winter cereal crops are generally positive, reflecting favourable weather conditions. However, conflicts in some countries of the Near East continue to severely affect food security and disrupt agricultural activities, curbing production prospects.

• LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: The outlook for 2015 coarse grains production in South America remains favourable, despite a contraction in plantings. In Central America, early indications in the main producer Mexico points to a good 2015 first season coarse grains production, while the cereal supply situation remains tight in the drought-affected countries of the subregion.

• FAO estimates that globaly 37 countries, including 29 in Africa, are in need of external assistance for food.

YOKOHAMA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) this month welcomed a US$122.62 million humanitarian aid package from the Government of Japan. The donation will enable WFP to provide vital food and nutrition assistance to targeted vulnerable people, many of whom are affected by conflict, in 27 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Part of the funds will also support special logistics operations, which WFP runs in four of those countries.

“WFP deeply appreciates this substantial injection of support from Japan which comes at a critical time when the organization, which is 100 percent voluntarily-funded, is simultaneously responding to an unprecedented level of need for food assistance globally. The Government and people of Japan have repeatedly demonstrated proactive leadership in responding to humanitarian emergencies,” said Stephen Anderson, Director of WFP Japan Office. “This is directly linked to Japan’s steadfast commitment to enhancing human security, building peace and empowering women around the globe.”

A large part of the donation will support conflict-affected people in the Middle East. As fighting intensifies in Iraq and Syria, Japan’s aid will enable WFP to distribute food and vouchers to a total of 8 million people who are displaced inside these two countries or seeking refuge in surrounding countries. In Yemen, funds will go towards providing emergency food assistance to some 6 million people including those displaced by insecurity and host communities, and meals for children attending school.

In Africa, Japan’s contribution will assist millions hit by conflict and natural disasters in 18 countries including in Central African Republic and South Sudan, where conflict has resulted in large-scale population displacement and hunger crises. In Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Japan’s donation will support WFP in meeting the basic food and nutrition needs of Ebola-affected families and communities.

The channelling of funds to Afghanistan and Pakistan, long affected by conflict and displacement, reflects Japan’s aid policy of promoting peace and sustainable development in the region. Funds will be used to provide food to conflict and disaster-affected people, internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups, including malnourished children.

WFP’s logistics operation will also benefit from Japan’s support in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Afghanistan, where the agency is also responsible for the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service providing critical air transport services for the humanitarian community.

The breakdown of the contribution is as follows:

Middle East: Iraq (US$13 million), Yemen (US$10 million), Palestine (US$5 million), Jordan (US$4.44 million), Lebanon (US$2.73 million), Turkey (US$2.22 million), Syria (US$1.5 million)

Africa: Central African Republic (US$7.5 million), Mali (US$7 million), Sierra Leone (US$6 million), Cameroon (US$5.8 million), Niger (US$5.15 million), Democratic Republic of Congo (US$5 million), Ethiopia (US$5 million), Burkina Faso (US$5 million), Mauritania (US$4.5 million), South Sudan (US$4.2 million), Somalia (US$4.2 million), Chad (US$3.5 million), Kenya (US$2.7 million), Guinea (US$2.5 million), Malawi (US$2.5 million), Zimbabwe (US$1.5 million), Liberia (US$1 million), Djibouti (US$480,000)

Asia: Afghanistan (US$5.2 million), Pakistan (US$5 million)

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WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 75 countries.

Follow us on Twitter @wfp_media

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Yuko Yasuda, WFP/Yokohama, Tel. +81 (0)3 5766 5364, Mob. +81 (0)90 9844 9990

HIGHLIGHTS

• Aid organisations have registered 32,490 newly displaced people in North and Central Darfur states of whom IOM has verified 20,589 in North Darfur.

• About 7,400 IDPs in North Darfur’s Um Baru area receive food aid.

• An estimated 7,000 returnees, displaced people and refugees in South Darfur’s Um Dafug area start receiving humanitarian assistance.

• In areas south of Bahr El Arab in the Abyei area, 20 per cent of households were found to be food insecure, according to the Abyei Food Security and Nutrition Assessment.

Highlights

• A total of 144,602 South Sudanese refugees have been assisted in Uganda since the influx began in mid-December 2013, including 91,0011 in Adjumani, 12,741 in Arua, 33,370 in Kiryandongo and 7,490 in Kampala. There were 572 new arrivals during the reporting period.

• Across all South Sudanese refugee hosting areas preparations were underway for International Women’s Day (8 March) with women’s groups and refugee leaders.

Pocket areas that received inadequate seasonal rainfall in 2014 and/or had a poor harvest due to flooding or crop disease will remain vulnerable in early 2015. Released on 18 February, the nutrition hotspot classification for the first quarter of 2015 identified 338 nutrition hotspot woredas for priority intervention. The classification team also identified woredas that require emergency WaSH intervention.

FOOD SECURITY

Food insecurity is worsening in belg/gu/ganna/sugum rain-receiving areas, as the dry season reaches its peak. The belg (mid-February-May) rains are delayed, while the gu/ganna/sugum rains in the lowlands of Afar, Oromia and Somali regions are expected in mid-March. Delayed rains and the expected below-average seasonal rainfall performance will impact belg planting, as well as water and pasture availability in pastoralist areas.

REFUGEE

Ethiopia hosts the largest refugee population in Africa

656,199 registered refugees in Ethiopia

251,545 South Sudanese refugees

196,000 new arrivals in Gambella since mid-December 2013.

UNHCR and partners continue to respond to the sudden spike in Eritrean refugees, who are the fastest growing refugee population in the country since October 2014. Even though nearly 125,000 Eritreans are registered as refugees, the actual refugee population is believed to be a third of that figure as a result of secondary movements.

33,000 new Eritrean arrivals registered in 2014 (including unaccompanied minors)

Melany Markham
Emergency Communications Specialist
World Vision South Sudan

For most women, the birth of a child is a happy event, but for many women in South Sudan, it is life-threatening. South Sudan has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the world. 26 women from every thousand women die either in childbirth or shortly after.

Some of the things that make it so dangerous for women who get pregnant in South Sudan are cultural beliefs and practices that delay the arrival of women at hospital, poverty and a dispersed rural population, which restricts their access to healthcare, and malnutrition, which damages their health and creates complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

FOR MORE ON THIS STORY, SEE THE PHOTO GALLERY

In Kuajok Hospital in Warrap state, World Vision operates the maternity ward. Irma Adhel Kak is a South Sudanese woman who works on this ward. She has been a nurse for 40 years and says that, even though there are many things that are still lacking, things have improved. Back then, she says, “There was no medicine, there were no delivery rooms – just one theatre. Medical work was very limited.”

MALARIA COMPLICATES PREGNANCY

Nyankiir RIng, 20, can barely sit up straight when she is diagnosed with malaria and a blood infection at the Kuajok Hospital. She is seven months pregnant and is burning with a fever and, as she lies on the hospital bed, she sighs as a nurse applies a cold compress to her forehead. Within minutes, a drip is attached and she is administered glucose and quinine. Beside her sits her mother who has brought her to the hospital.

She lives close to the hospital with her mother which meant that, when she fell ill, it was a short rickshaw ride to get help. It’s not the first time she has made the trip. She was two months pregnant the first time she contracted it. Not only is she lucky to be alive, but she is even luckier to have her child still as malaria is a particular risk for women in their first pregnancy as it can lead to anaemia and may can cause complications during childbirth, as well as low birth weight.

NO JOY WITH NEW BABY

Nyanut sits on the edge of the bed next to the traditional birth attendant (TBA) who brought her to the hospital. She had been in labour for almost a day when she fell unconscious. She was brought to hospital and now sits next to her tiny baby as the TBA holds him. Although she and her child have survived the birth, their situation is indicative of the neglect of mothers in South Sudan.

She stares sadly and silently into the room when asked about her child.

“My husband doesn’t care about me. It’s good to have children when a husband cares for you, but if you don’t have a caring husband there’s no point in having more children. He doesn’t bring food and he doesn’t pay attention when I am sick,” says Nyanut.

Nyanut is facing a lifetime of struggle and the situation that she and her child are in is indicative of the neglect of mothers in South Sudan.

NOT MANY CHOICES IN THIS COUNTRY

Dr Edward Ayong Abiai is a South Sudanese doctor. “We are the only clinic in Kuajok. You have to be pregnant when you are fit to do it. When you are sick or have financial problems, it’s not the time.”

Yet neither Nyakiir and Nyanut have a lot of choice in their situation. Both of them left school before finishing and had few options to support themselves other than marriage.

Proper healthcare, nutrition and a cultural change are some of the ways that South Sudan will reduce its mortality rate, but they aren’t easy solutions and will take significant time and resources to achieve. In the midst of a civil war, the needs of young mothers compete with food shortages and other more pressing needs for the entire population.

This means that, so long as the war continues, mothers will continue to die.

Click here for more information on World Vision's work at Kuajok hospital.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Maban convoy: For the first time in nearlymonths a humanitarian convoy has begun arriving in Maban, Upper Nile State. Three trucks arrived onMarch carrying timber for UNHCR’s refugee shelter programme.

• Refugee influx: Average weekly arrivals of Sudanese refugees in Yida, Unity State, were 672 in January and 712 in February.

• IDP relocation initiative: UNHCR missions to Leer (Unity State), and Akobo and Pagak (Jonglei State) took place this week to explore the possibility of the assisted relocation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the two Protection of Civilian (POC) sites. Meetings were held with local government and military authorities, traditional leaders, women’s and youth representatives, as well as humanitarian actors and IDPs in each area in search of a transitional solution for these people. (Wau POC has 337 people -­‐ all Nuers; Bor POC has 2,500 people -­‐ all Nuers).

• Child recruitment: UNHCR is following up on reports of hundreds of children having been abducted in Wau Shilluk,km northeast of Malakal, Upper Nile State.

• Bentiu POC site being expanded: 27% of the extension has been cleared, 14% of the external berm completed, and 66% of the earth-­‐moving equipment has been positioned by the contractor. According to IOM, the total cost of the project is US$million.

• Screening of foreign nationals: UNHCR, in cooperation with UNMISS and IOM, has nearly completed a screening exercise of those foreign nationals who have been long-­‐term residents of Juba POC sites in order to identify any individuals who may be refugees. This week UNHCR registered and screened nearly 440 individuals.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | | Friday 3/6/2015 - 17:03 GMT

by Karim LEBHOUR

South Sudan's warring leaders failed to reach a deal to end more than a year of civil war, mediators said Friday, with the latest collapse in peace talks paving the way for possible sanctions.

Ethiopia's prime minister said South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar missed a deadline to reach a peace agreement by midnight Thursday, and that further talks on Friday "did not produce the necessary breakthrough."

"This is unacceptable, both morally and politically," Hailemariam Desalegn said in the statement issued by the east African regional bloc IGAD, which has been trying to mediate a peace deal.

Hailemariam also gave IGAD's harshest criticism yet of Kiir and his former deputy Machar, whose personal feud has exploded into ethnic massacres, gang rapes and the forced displacement of civilians, pushing the country to the brink of famine.

"Continuing a war flagrantly disregards the interests of you, the people," he said, addressing the people of South Sudan, whose country only gained independence from Khartoum in 2011 after a long, bitter war.

"It is an abdication of the most sacred duty leaders have to you, their people: to deliver peace, prosperity and stability," the Ethiopian premier said of Kiir and Machar, both of who have been implicated in atrocities.

"I asked them to be courageous in offering compromises and alternatives, rather than only reiterating old positions.... Unfortunately, as the missed deadline shows, our pleas have not been heeded."

South Sudan's civil war started in December 2013 when Kiir accused Machar, who had been sacked as vice president, of attempting a coup.

Over two dozen armed groups -- including government soldiers and allied militia backed by Ugandan soldiers on one side, and a range of rebel factions on the other -- have been battling it out since.

• More robust approach -

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict, two million have been uprooted and 2.5 million are in desperate need of food aid.

In a bid to force a deal, the United Nations this week passed a resolution threatening sanctions against individuals deemed to be undermining peace efforts.

Possible targets include leaders or officials who obstruct peace talks, impede humanitarian aid deliveries, recruit child soldiers or attack UN peacekeepers.

Acknowledging IGAD's failure to broker peace, Hailemariam said the "peace process must be reinvigorated and reformed".

"We will assist the parties to make the compromises that have so far eluded them. We will use all influence at our disposal to convince those that remain intransigent," he said, alluding to mounting calls for sanctions and an arms embargo.

According to diplomats close to the peace process -- which has so far cost at least 20 million euros ($21.7 million) and earned the peace delegates scorn for drawing out their stays in luxury hotels -- IGAD could call in the African Union, the 54-member pan-African bloc, in a bid to find a more robust approach.

A draft AU report on the conflict obtained by AFP has recommended South Sudan be handed over to internationally-mandated caretakers and its warring leaders barred from politics.

Former Nigeria president Olusegun Obasanjo led an AU probe and submitted a final version of the report in January, but AU officials had shelved it -- fearing its publication might undermine IGAD's peace efforts.

kal-sas-tmc/gj

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

My dear brothers and sisters, the people of South Sudan,

On February 1st of this year, President Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar agreed to a plan to conclude negotiations on the formation of a transitional government of national unity and begin a process of healing and reconciliation in your country. My colleagues, the Leaders of the IGAD Member States, and myself, were hopeful that this moment signaled the nearing of the end of the terrible tragedy that has befallen South Sudan since December 15th , 2013.

President Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar agreed that they would come to an agreement by March 5th. That deadline has been missed. Talks continued this morning, past the deadline. I regret to inform you that the talks did not produce the necessary breakthrough.

The consequences of inaction are the continued suffering of you, the people of South Sudan, and the prolonging of a senseless war in your country. This is unacceptable, both morally and politically. On behalf of the people of Ethiopia, and the people of the entire IGAD region, we stand with you at this difficult and disappointing time: we remain hopeful that the promise of peace will be fulfilled in the near future.

My dear brothers and sisters, the people of South Sudan,

Leadership is never easy, but continuing a war flagrantly disregards the interests of you, the people. It is an abdication of the most sacred duty leaders have to you, their people: to deliver peace, prosperity and stability.

Both President Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar have assured the Leaders of the IGAD Member States that they are committed to peace. At the same time, there are individuals on both sides who continue to beat the drums of war. This cannot be right. There can be no justification for the continuation of this conflict. The war must end now.

On March 3rd , I urged President Kiir and Dr. Machar to make the necessary and difficult compromises to move out of this crisis. I asked them to be courageous in offering compromises and alternatives, rather than only reiterating old positions. Both regional and world leaders joined this call. Unfortunately, as the missed deadline shows, our pleas have not been heeded.

IGAD has tried to mediate the crisis as best it can, but we must acknowledge that our efforts have not yet produced the necessary results. Our efforts cannot continue unaltered and expect a different outcome; the peace process must be reinvigorated and reformed. In the coming days, I will consult with my colleagues, the IGAD leaders, partners and friends in the region, on the continent, and beyond to agree a common plan of action.

My dear brothers and sisters, the people of South Sudan,

Together, we will hold the Parties to their commitment to form a transitional government by July of this year. To achieve that goal, IGAD, joined by the friends of South Sudan from Africa and abroad, intends to implement a common plan and table a reasonable and comprehensive solution to end the crisis in South Sudan.

While the Parties may see the peace talks as a process that can continue indefinitely, you, the people of South Sudan, including the millions directly affected by the conflict, know that peace is needed, and is needed now.

At the highest level, the world must speak with one voice on South Sudan. We will assist the Parties to make the compromises that have so far eluded them. We will use all influence at our disposal to convince those that remain intransigent. And we willensure that the voices of the silent majority of South Sudanese prevail: peace, reform and justice.

We ask you, the people, to refuse to support those who militate for war, destruction and killing. We want you, the people, to be unequivocal with your leaders: choose reconciliation and not injustice; choose dialogue and not rigidity. Choose peace and not conflict.

My dear brothers and sisters, do not lose hope. The region, and the world, stands with you. Peace is our only priority. Peace will be achieved. You, the people of South Sudan, need and deserve no less.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | | Friday 3/6/2015 - 16:45 GMT |

A draft African Union report on the civil war in South Sudan has called for the country to be handed over to internationally-mandated caretakers and its warring leaders barred from politics.

The draft report of the AU Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan, obtained by AFP, accuses President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar of direct responsibility for the country's toxic politics and the war that followed.

Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo led the commission and submitted a final version of the report in January, but it was shelved by AU officials who feared its publication might undermine peace talks.

Those talks, mediated by regional bloc IGAD, collapsed on Friday -- and diplomats have hinted that the recommendations contained in Obasanjo's draft could form the basis of discussions on how the pan-African bloc could step in with a more robust approach to the crisis.

"Key to the pursuit of political justice in the transitional period is the exclusion from high office of all those held politically accountable for the mass violence that followed the crisis of December 15, 2013," the draft said.

Blame for the conflict is not only reserved for South Sudan's leaders.

Regional African governments and the international community -- in particular Britain, Norway and the US, together known as the Troika -- are also criticised for helping formulate a flawed 2005 peace deal that ended decades of north-south civil war but enthroned the rebel army as southern leaders.

This 2005 agreement "set up a politically unchallenged armed power in South Sudan, one that could act with impunity, thereby legitimising both anyone holding a gun and the rule of the gun," the draft says.

The commission recommends that control of South Sudan be handed to a three-member, AU-appointed and United Nations-mandated "oversight Panel", thereby cutting the "unaccountable political class" out of running the country.

On Friday Ethiopia's prime minister said Kiir and Machar missed a deadline to reach a peace agreement by midnight Thursday, and that further talks on Friday "did not produce the necessary breakthrough."

Acknowledging IGAD's failure to broker peace, the premier said the "peace process must be reinvigorated and reformed".

bur-tmc/sas/gj

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

Highlights

• WFP South Sudan re-joins UNHCR on its global programming to promote selfreliance of refugees. A joint assessment with WFP/UNHCR/FAO is on-going in Western Equatoria to identify sustainable livelihood opportunities for some 28,000 long-standing refugees, as a transition from general food distribution.

• Biometric registration undertaken by IOM and WFP yields a 22 percent reduction in beneficiaries to be assisted with WFP’s evoucher programme in Mingkaman (Lakes). Approximately 15,000 households (or 70,000 people, reduced from 90,000) will receive cards that are loaded with credit against cereal commodities. Retail selection and market analysis are on-going.

• Prepositioning efforts are in full-swing, with approximately 21,500 mt of food commodities already dispatched. In a significant breakthrough, some 12,000 mt of this amount has been dispatched to Bentiu and Yida (Unity) through cross-line deliveries.

HIGHLIGHTS

• On 05 March, the South Sudan President, Mr. Salva Kiir, and the leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), Mr. Riek Machar, failed to meet the deadline set by regional mediators for the two sides to strike a final and comprehensive peace deal.

• On 03 March, the Security Council created a system to impose sanctions on those blocking peace in South Sudan. Through the unanimous adoption of resolution 2206 (2015), under Article 41 of the United Nations Charter, the Council condemned the “flagrant” violations to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreements expressing deep concern at the failure of both parties to honour their commitments, engage in the peace process towards political resolution of the crisis and end the violence. The Council underscored its willingness to impose targeted sanctions in order to support the search for an inclusive and sustainable peace in South Sudan, setting out criteria for the designation of individuals and entities that were responsible for, complicit in, or that had engaged — directly or indirectly — in actions or policies that threatened the country’s peace, security or stability.

Highlights

• In Bentiu Protection of Civilians site,12, 018 children were screened for malnutrition, identifying a proxy global acute malnutrition rate of 12.5 per cent - an improvement since the previous screening in December (proxy GAM 18.8 per cent).

• An initial rapid needs assessment is under way in Nimni, Unity State.

• For the first time in nearly 18 months a humanitarian convoy has arrived in Maban, Upper Nile State, from Juba.

4.1 million People to be assisted by the end of 2015

2.5 million People facing crisis/emergency levels of food insecurity Jan-Mar 2015

1.5 million People internally displaced by conflict since December 2013

$529 million Pledged at Nairobi conference for response to South Sudan crisis

Situation overview

On 5 March, heavy fighting was reported in Duk Duk, Renk, Upper Nile State. Five people were reportedly killed. The situation in Melut remained relatively calm but armed troops were reported in the town. Previously, on 3 March, mortar shelling continued across the Sobat River in Nasir, in Upper Nile State. Nasir town was reportedly largely deserted.

In Western Bahr el Ghazal, shooting by armed men was reported in Wau, the capital, on 2 March. Five people were reportedly killed and eight others injured during the shooting. The situation was reportedly now calm by the end of the reporting period.

Criminal activities and sporadic shooting continued around Rumbek, capital of Lakes. On 4 March, two students from Rumbek Secondary School were shot and killed by unknown armed men. Previously, two men were also killed in Akwac village along the Rumbek to Wulu road (also in Lakes) by armed men. The motive of the killings remained unclear and investigations continue. Partners now believe that the number of children abducted by armed men in Wau Shilluk, Upper Nile State, may be in the hundreds, not 89 as previously reported.

6 March 2015 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed profound disappointment after the unsuccessful conclusion of peace talks in South Sudan and the failure of President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar to display statesmanship and reach a power-sharing deal.

The security situation in the world’s youngest country has deteriorated steadily over the past year since political in-fighting between the two leaders erupted in December 2013. The hostilities subsequently turned into a full-fledged conflict that has sent nearly 100,000 civilians fleeing to bases around the country managed by the UN Missions (UNMISS).

Peace talks were being conducted under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), which had also set a 5 March deadline for the conclusion of negotiations between the two parties.

A statement issued this afternoon, the UN spokesperson office said that the Secretary-General has reached out to all relevant leaders over the past two days to urge the continuation of negotiations.

“He urges both parties to refrain from any attempt to escalate the conflict and reiterates that there can be no military solution or alternative to a negotiated settlement. He appreciates the efforts and vital role played by IGAD and its special envoys in bringing peace to South Sudan. He supports IGAD's intention to expand the mediation to include other partners,” the office said.

The Secretary-General also recalled recent UN Security Council resolution 2206 (2015), and the Council's intention to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities who fail to abide by the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of 23 January 2014.

The crisis in South Sudan has uprooted an estimated 1.9 million people and placed more than 7 million at risk of hunger and disease, a recent peace deal between the warring factions had fostered hope of a definitive end to the year-long conflict.

According to the UN, in fact, the Organization’s bases across South Sudan are currently sheltering over 110,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) with an additional 1.5 million others displaced throughout the country and 500,000 outside the country.

Rumbek, South Sudan | Saturday 3/7/2015 - 02:05 GMT

by Aymeric VINCENOT

Sebastian Mabor was out last month looking for his cows -- and almost ended up another casualty in South Sudan's seemingly unstoppable descent into a cycle of violence.

Even though the central Lakes State region his been largely spared by the 15-month-old civil war, the conflict has nevertheless left the country awash with even more weapons, so that what used to be petty disputes are now often deadly.

"They took me at gunpoint to the bush, made me sit down," Mabor said of his experience, just a short walk away from his village and from which he barely escaped. "One of them said 'he's one to be killed', but another said 'no, he has to tell us which sub-clan he's from'".

"Before you could go to another village. But now if your cow is lost, you're not looking for it or you might be killed," said the 37-year-old.

South Sudan's civil war broke out in December 2013, when President Salva Kiir, from the majority Dinka tribe, accused his sacked deputy, Riek Machar of the Nuer tribe, of plotting a coup.

The world's youngest nation, which only gained independence from Khartoum in 2011, has since been carved up along ethnic lines -- with the war marked by ethnic massacres, gang rapes, child soldier recruitment and a state of near-famine in many areas.

Mabor's ordeal may be common in the wider context, but what makes it all the more alarming is that his attackers were from the same ethnic group, the Dinka, and only targeted him because they were hunting members of a different Dinka sub-clan.

• Revenge rules -

The violence in South Sudan, worried observers say, has now become endemic.

"What is particular is how (the violence) has become very strong within the same tribe and among close neighbours," said Father Henry Gidudu, a Catholic priest and activist.

"It is escalating, we're experiencing revenge after another. People are killing themselves, destroying themselves. It has nothing to do with the current conflict, but the conflict is a contributing factor. Whenever there's war, people get opportunity to get weapons," he explained.

"We have to advocate for disarmament, but we also have to change attitudes, change the culture of violence to a culture of peace, a culture of revenge to culture of forgiveness."

According to locals, inter-clan violence frequently starts with the theft of cattle, a central feature of South Sudanese society and representative of personal wealth. Sometimes, however, the spark can be a simple brawl, which draws in other family members, and somebody ends up dead.

In one local case, a deadly brawl sparked a cycle of revenge that left 70 people dead over a year, before it was finally ended with cattle paid as compensation.

"In the past it happened, but you never used to have many dead," said James Kunhiak, a local administrator -- saying the Kalashnikov had now replaced the traditional walking stick.

The only solution, he said, was a "comprehensive disarmament" -- but added that this was unlikely to happen as long as the civil war was still raging. Officials have also acknowledged that the South Sudanese government has been distributing guns to the Dinka.

Law enforcement is also non-existent.

"If you kill someone, you'll never be apprehended. You'll have to pay a compensation, but most of the time it's the clan that has to pay," Kunhiak said.

"It's the mindset we have, to show that we are not weak."

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