March 17, 2015 (JUBA) – The United Nations mission strongly condemned what it described as a breach of the protection of civilians’ site’s perimeter by South Sudan army soldiers.

The incident, a UN spokesperson said, occurred Tuesday at the site in Unity state, where the mission protects some 53,000 civilians.

"The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) says it is seriously concerned about fighting that took place this [Tuesday] morning and later this afternoon, in the vicinity of its compound in Bentiu, in Unity State, including an artillery shell which landed in the protection of civilians’ site,” Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson of the secretary general said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

Renewed clashes resumed between the warring factions, with each side blaming the other for violating a ceasefire deal agreed upon.

There were reports of fighting around the UN support base in Renk, Upper Nile state, with mortars reportedly fired from the vicinity of the base.

According to the UN mission, the fighting around Renk follows an SPLA offensive in Wedakona, a few kilometres south of Renk.

The latest fighting reportedly constituted the biggest military action since the peace talks collapsed at the beginning of this month.

The UN, however, said it remains committed to maintaining the civilian character of its protection sites, and reminded the parties that these sites provide safety to civilians under threat of violence.

It urged parties to the South Sudan conflict to refrain from activities that undermine the sanctity of the protection of civilians’ sites, or hinder the UN’s ability to protect or assist civilians.

(ST)

In 2015 humanitarian organizations will target assistance to an estimated 5.4 million of the most vulnerable people in Sudan. Some 3.1 million of these people are internally displaced; most in Darfur, while a further 0.7 million people are refugees displaced from their country of origin or South Sudanese who are unable to move to South Sudan. In addition the humanitarian community aims to provide assistance to some 1.6 million of the most food-insecure non-displaced people, as well as 1.2 million of the most severely malnourished children aged under five.

In Darfur at least 32,400 people have been displaced from their homes by conflict since January 2015. These people have been verified and received some form of humanitarian assistance. However, many more people are reported to have been displaced by fighting, including in the Eastern Jebel Marra area of Darfur. OCHA and its partners are unable to verify these reports due to access restrictions and continued fighting.

On 3 March 2015, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted Resolution 2206 on South Sudan. Among other things, the resolution seeks to impose targeted sanctions on those responsible for undermining the South Sudanese peace efforts.

The resolution, which was drafted by the United States (US), expresses deep concern at the failures of the warring parties to ‘engage in a palpable peace process’.

It also proposes punitive measures such as travel bans and asset freezes against individuals and entities (government and rebel groups) that are responsible for threatening the peace, security or stability of the new nation.

The resolution also reserves the option of an arms embargo against the warring parties. The question, however, is whether targeted sanctions can create compliance and the desired outcomes for South Sudan. At a basic level, can such sanctions be supported and enforced by South Sudan’s neighbours given both their shared and competing interests?

In her explanation to the Council, the US Permanent Representative to the UN, Samantha Power, argued that a sanctions regime against South Sudan was aimed at enhancing the leverage of the Intergovernmental Authority of Development (IGAD) in mediating a compromise. She added that this would ensure that parties know ‘that they will be held to account if they fail to compromise to reach agreement, but also that they would be held accountable … if they do again … fail to implement that to which they have signed’.

In response to the UNSC, South Sudan’s Ambassador to the UN, Francis Deng, criticised the move, calling it ‘counter productive’ and maintaining that the president and government of South Sudan needed encouragement, not condemnation. The 5 March deadline for a new peace deal having elapsed (although IGAD is mulling over the possibility of a new peace process), it looks increasingly probable that targeted sanctions would be imposed.

Enforcing these, however, could be a double-edged sword. Sanctions can be a strategically and symbolically important way to exert leverage. Implementing measures such as asset freezes and travel bans, however, calls for joint effort and active involvement from South Sudan’s neighbours, since most of the country’s elite have personal interests – including homes – in the region.

The interests of the respective neighbouring countries might therefore shape or undermine the enforcement process. IGAD member Uganda intervened in support of the government of President Salva Kiir because of its economic interests: South Sudan is Uganda’s biggest trading partner, with the latter exporting food, coffee, vehicles and labour worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually to South Sudan. Another neighbour, Kenya, also shares concerns over its own lucrative trade with Juba in areas such as banking, insurance, aviation, construction and hospitality.

Khartoum, on the other hand, depends on South Sudan for the oil transit and refining fee to prop up its economy. Ethiopia, a key player in the mediation process, has modest economic interests in South Sudan compared to Uganda and Kenya, but is, importantly, concerned with security and strategic interests – among these the western border region of Gambella, whose population shares the same Nuer ethnicity that supports the rebel leader Riek Machar.

A significant number of citizens from all of these neighbouring countries are employed in South Sudan, and attempts to impose sanctions might threaten these countries’ interests if South Sudan were to assume reprisal measures.

Sanctions may also further complicate efforts to end the 15-month conflict, especially if government officials use these as a pretext to stir up nationalistic feelings and blame foreign powers for the country’s woes (as has been the case in Zimbabwe). Indeed, sanctions of whatever form are likely to have unintended consequences, especially when those affected hold senior government positions.

If those targeted by sanctions feel threatened, they could increase the diversion of state resources and strengthen repression measures. While some argue that sanctions imposed on South Sudan would harm only the targeted politicians and military men, others believe that those targeted would continue to benefit illicitly from the country’s petrodollars by using third parties and other means. As such, sanctions might not necessarily induce compliance.

As South Sudan continues to witness intermittent armed violence between the two conflicting groups, the usefulness of targeted sanctions as a tool to promote compromise among South Sudanese warring parties remains contentious. It would be very difficult to stop the flow of arms into South Sudan given the region’s porous borders, let alone that the country is already awash with such weapons. A common understanding is needed between the UNSC and South Sudan’s neighbours on modalities of enforcing the targeted sanctions, while minimising negative consequences.

The key seems to ensure regional corporation. Moreover, targeted sanctions will most likely work if they are complemented by a range of other diplomatic instruments, such as foreign assistance incentives or the possibility of the accused being taken to a legal tribunal or the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Emmanuel Kisiangani, Senior Researcher, Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis Division, ISS Nairobi

18 March 2015 - Discrimination against women across South Sudan remained a serious challenge to national development, peace and security, Warrap State parliamentarians said in the state capital Kuajok today.

The members of the State Legislative Assembly were speaking at a one-day forum organized by UNMISS to raise awareness of what laws and international conventions the country has ratified.

“In order to overcome discrimination of women in the society, we must encourage people to send their children to school irrespective of the sex, tribe and culture,” said Madot Dut Deng, Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly. “Through education, our children will understand their rights and be ready to steer the affairs of the country when the time comes.”

Mr. Deng said women empowerment should begin with the education of their rights and inclusion in decision making.

“Let us encourage and include women in workshops to educate them of their rights and responsibilities,” he said. ” This will (help to) avoid misunderstanding with their husbands in the communities.”

Lauding the people of the state for championing the cause of women in the country, the acting UNMISS Warrap State Coordinator Leda Limann urged the members of parliament and the executive to do more.

“Women are mostly discriminated in the communities during conflict,” she said. “Women need to be involved in decisions making and also participate in the government.”

Ms. Limann described the Greater Tonj Peace Conference Resolution a positive step to protect women’s rights.

“This is the time to make good on all resolutions to empower women and the less fortunate in society,” she stressed.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | | Thursday 3/19/2015 - 15:22 GMT

South Sudan's devastating civil war is likely to drag on, the country's rebels said Thursday, declaring international peace efforts a failure.

"The whole world turned to South Sudan but diplomacy didn't bring anything," rebel military spokesman Lony Ngundeng told reporters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

"If you have a peaceful solution you still need to convince people whose family were killed. They want to fight back," he said, insisting the peace process was "not finished" but nevertheless predicting the "fighting will continue until one side is defeated."

Peace talks held in Ethiopia, brokered by the east African regional bloc IGAD, have resulted in a string of broken ceasefires, and the last round of talks collapsed on March 7. Since then both sides have confirmed the outbreak of fresh fighting on several fronts in the oil-rich north of the country.

South Sudan is the the world's youngest nation, having broken away from Khartoum in 2011 after a long and bloody independence struggle.

But civil war broke out in the new nation in December 2013, when President Salva Kiir accused Riek Machar, his former deputy, of planning a coup. Since then tens of thousands have died, two million have been uprooted and four million face starvation.

The government and the rebels have been accused of widespread atrocities.

The rebel spokesman claimed that forces loyal to Machar had gained ground in the north and centre of the country, and hinted of a possible attack on Juba in the south: "We haven't tried to make a move on Juba yet," he said.

He also rejected the idea that South Sudan be handed over to internationally-mandated caretakers, a proposal contained in a leaked draft African Union report on the conflict.

"If they want a UN protectorate, people won't accept it," Ngundeng said.

The comments came the day after President Kiir ruled out a proposed power-sharing deal with Machar, rejecting a key element of a draft deal drawn up by regional mediators.

With the peace process deadlocked, the threat of sanctions has been raised by the international community amid mounting frustration with the failure of the peace process, the continued conflict and its escalating humanitarian cost.

Earlier this month the UN Security Council passed a US-drafted resolution creating a sanctions regime for South Sudan, although none have yet been imposed.

kal/sas/jz

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

En application de la résolution 57/306 de l’Assemblée générale, le présent rapport contient des données concernant des allégations d’exploitation et de violence sexuelles dans le système des Nations Unies pour la période allant du 1 er janvier au1 décembre 2014 , ainsi que des informations sur les mesures actuellement prises pour renforcer la riposte de l’Organisation à l’exploitation et aux abus sexuels en matière de prévention, d’application effective des dispositions et de réparation.

Offer of temporary release relayed by Gordon Brown, UN global education envoy, with no details given about who took the boys

A South Sudanese warlord who abducted about 89 boys from their school has offered to let them return to finish their exams as long as they are then given back to him to fight, Gordon Brown, the United Nations global education envoy, has said.

read the full story here

Posted by Unni Krishnan, Plan International’s Head of Disaster Preparedness and Response

Emotional care should find a central place in disaster settings, blogs Plan International's Head of Disaster Preparedness and Response, Unni Krishnan.

15 March 2015: If you want to respond to and recover from a disaster and its impact on the mind, be prepared, play hard and plan for the future. Some might say it’s a mind game.

Immediately after a disaster, life-saving aid floods into a country. Yet, while humanitarian workers are adept at dealing with the physical needs, they can miss the invisible needs of disaster survivors – such as mental health and psychosocial support, especially for children.

Tropical Cyclone Pam, which hit Vanuatu at the weekend, resulted in catastrophic damage. The storm, one of the worst ever to hit the Pacific, reminds us of the real world we live in and how quickly it can tear lives apart and leave thousands homeless. The storm also affected Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Kiribati. The frequency and intensity of storms are increasing with each year, and it is imperative we are prepared to deal with them, both physically and mentally.

In short, the mind matters and healing is as much of a ‘mental’ process as it is a physical one.

Why? Well, there’s only so much a person can take, literally. Liken the mind to a balloon. If you keep pumping air into it and don’t let off the pressure, something has to give.

Disasters result in bitter memories. Psychological suffering manifests instantly and often remains for a long time. These involve normal, natural reactions to an abnormal situation. When you live through a disaster, there is a limit to what your mind can take – much like a balloon.

Safe spaces to heal

Around this time last year, while responding to the armed conflict and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, I came across a group of 100 children in Awerial in the Lake District in South Sudan – some singing, playing and some crying.

Yet, in that crowd, there were 2 girls that stood out – Madiha*, 9, and Lina, 4*. The pair had sought refuge in a Plan International child-friendly space and it was there I discovered their story.

Madiha told me how her hometown of Bor, Jonglei state, had turned into a battleground. She saw armed men killing everyone in sight. The violence spiralled out of control, thousands died and a mass exodus began.

On 28 December 2013, armed men seized Madiha’s mother and father. Later that day, they were shot dead at close range. The young girl witnessed it all.

The girls needed support to heal their wounds - physically and emotionally – and staff were on hand at Plan’s child-friendly space to help them make sense of what had happened.

This real life event is not a case in isolation. Such situations reiterate that mind should find a central place not just in relief settings, but in disaster preparedness and risk reduction work.

The Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction is currently taking place in Sendai, Japan. It provides a good opportunity to stress the importance of a holistic, community-centred approach and to make such work child-friendly.

The prime minister of Japan announced at the conference that his country will contribute over US$4 billion for disaster risk reduction and preparedness in developing countries over the next few years. Material and mind matters are inseparable in disaster preparedness.

The mind matters in a crisis

With disasters frequently occurring across the world, it is imperative adults and children are equipped to deal with them.

Different disasters impact the mind in unique ways. For example, in Japan, the nuclear evacuees face a more difficult future than the survivors of the tsunami, according to researchers from Fukushima Medical University**. While tsunami-area people are improving, nuclear evacuees are becoming more depressed day by day.

As for the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, psychosocial support is important.

Plan International recently conducted research amongst children in Sierra Leone and Liberia. It found that Ebola has challenged the needs of children for loving relationships, hope and self-belief, just as severely as it threatened their physical needs, as many have lost family and friends.

Psychiatrists alone can’t stop trauma

So how do 2 countries in the throes of a huge health crisis cope, when each country employs one practicing psychiatrist each?**

Even if physical health care needs are taken care of, people’s minds require attention. Mind is a complex matter and psychosocial support is not all about expert psychiatrists. You can’t stop trauma only with psychiatrists.

The algorithm of mind healing in disaster settings involves recognising people’s needs, fears and aspirations, social capital. It also requires an early start, long term vision, community support and sensitive psychological and social interventions.

If access to treatment for mental health issues is tough to come by - and that goes for aid workers and disaster victims - a community-based approach must be put in place.

Nowadays the idea of community-based psychosocial care is gaining momentum. It’s cost effective, demonstrates ownership and is contextual. Inter Agency Standing Committee’s guidelines on mental health** and psychosocial support in emergency settings and Sphere Humanitarian Standards** gives guidance, while Psychological First Aid** was a tool translated to Japanese to fast forward community-based care following the multiple disasters of 2011.

Prepare, play, plan

During my initial days in the Tōhoku region working with Plan International Japan and CARE Miyagi, I learnt the importance of prepare, play, plan when it comes to disasters and I stand by that motto.

At a global level, donors, the UN must include mental health more actively in needs assessments, programme design – not just after disasters strike, but during and before too.

Planning for the future in a responsible and creative way is essential. Schools serve not only as rescue shelters and places where children can return to normalcy, but as places to educate children about the risk of disasters.

Remember to play hard. Dealing with the mind is complex. But is it too serious to be left to specialists?

No, let people connect with it. Demystify matters of the mind, make it part of popular science – something that is fun to deal with. To make this happen, creative collaboration is key. Plan works with Clowns Without Borders**, an organisation that deploys clowns to offer laughter to relieve those suffering in humanitarian settings.

But, if we really want to make a community based-approach a reality, academics and experts must move beyond the walls of their labs, consulting rooms and lecture halls. Japan’s automobile industry demonstrates that through better engineering and design, you can make automobiles simpler and easier to drive.

Perhaps the mental health sector should take lessons from it. It needs to be open to new ideas and to recognise that innovative plans can come from collaboration and community.

The United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) is a network of depots around the world (Ghana, Italy, UAE, Malaysia, Panama, Spain) that stores and manages relief items on behalf of the humanitarian community. Strategic stocks of emergency relief goods are available at any given time and, at the onset of an emergency, UNHRD is ready to dispatch immediately.

Currently, UNHRD provides logistics services and comprehensive supply chain solutions to 64 partners including the United Nations, government and non-governmental organizations. Partners can coordinate their efforts, prioritize dispatches to emergencies, lend and borrow stock among themselves, and benefit from immediate access to goods through a flexible sourcing structure.

To date, UNHRD has delivered a combined 3060 MT of relief items valued at over 18.6 million USD in support of the ongoing crises in C.A.R., South Sudan and Syria and the surrounding regions.

March 19, 2015 (RUMBEK) – Lakes state’s ministry of education has moved 19 primary school into town due to rising insecurity in remote areas.

According state minister of education Dut Makoi, the schools were moved for the safety of staff and students.

He also noted that a number of schools in rural villages have been closed down due to an ongoing cycle of revenge killings and violence that has gripped certain areas.

The worst affected counties are Yirol West, Cueibet, Rumbek North, Rumbek East and Rumbek Central.

“As a council of ministers, we have decided to pass a decision that we amalgamated 19 primary schools to be moved into Rumbek town for their safety,” said Makoi. “We realise that insecurity has distracted learning in rural villages and [that the] only option left is to relocate those schools affected to safe places,” he added.

The schools in question have been amalgamated in accordance with a resolution adopted by the state council of ministers.

The decision came after inter-clan clashes erupted over the weekend, claiming 90 lives.

The minister of local government and law enforcement agency, Jok Ayom Majak, said that clashes erupted in Bulbar cattle camp between Rup and Pakam backed by their allies of Nyang and associate clans. The fighting continued for nine hours. Dozens of people remain missing.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The IOM team in Bentiu continues to expand and develop the PoC site. This extension project will decongest the current PoC and provide appropriate drainage to mitigate against floods in the upcoming rainy season.

• IOM hosts muiti-donor visit to the Malakal PoC site in Upper Nile State

• IOM Rapid Response Health assessment team is in Kandak

Geneva, Switzerland | Friday 3/20/2015 - 11:31 GMT

South Sudan's army and rebels have forced hundreds of children to fight in the country's devastating civil war in the past month alone, the UN children's agency said Friday.

"We have received credible and in some instances verifiable information that forces aligned with the government and opposition have abducted or coerced hundreds of children into their ranks in the past month alone," UNICEF representative in the country Jonathan Veitch said.

"Our teams on the ground and our partners are reporting a strong upsurge in recruitment at the moment and it is ongoing," he told reporters in Geneva.

UNICEF estimates there are at least 12,000 children used by both sides in South Sudan's civil war, which erupted in December 2013.

The violence began when President Salva Kiir accused Riek Machar, his former deputy, of planning a coup. Since then tens of thousands of people have died, two million have been uprooted and four million face starvation.

Veitch pointed out that both sides had "signed commitments to end the use of children in armed forces and armed groups."

Despite these commitments, the situation "has become increasingly desperate for boy children in many areas of the conflict zone," he said, pointing out that they were "being targeted (and) rounded up and sent to the front line."

Veitch's comments came after the rebels in the world's youngest nation said Thursday that the civil war will likely drag on and that "fighting will continue until one side is defeated."

The situation of child soldiers is particularly dire in the Upper Nile and Unity states, Veitch said.

He said "hundreds" of children were seized from the village of Wau Shilluk in Upper Nile in an attack last month by soldiers loyal to Major-General Johnson Olony, who commands an ethnic Shilluk militia in the northern Upper Nile state.

"Despite advocacy and appeals to the government and the Johnson Oloni militia which took the children, no child has been unconditionally released," he said.

Some of the children were meanwhile allowed to return home during the day, but forced to return to the training camps in the evening, he said, adding that UNICEF had "credible reports" that children were being sent to fight on the frontline in Kaka.

In Unity State the situation in opposition areas had also worsened significantly, with soldiers rounding up children and men in their houses and elsewhere, Veitch said.

"Taken together, we believe the seizures in Unite and Upper Nile total well into the hundreds in the past month," he said.

UNICEF is currently undertaking a large-scale demobilisation of child soldiers in South Sudan's Jonglai State, with up to 3,000 children released.

So far, some 660 children have been released into the care of UNICEF and its partners, and the agency expects up to 585 children, including a number of girls, to be demobilised in coming days, Veitch said.

Some 200 of the children have so far been reunited with their families, he added.

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The recent leak of a draft report attributed to the African Union Commission of Inquiry for South Sudan (AUCISS) has coincided with the termination of the peace talks between the government and rebel forces under the auspices of the East African regional block, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Together, these two events have thrown a wrench into what has already been a desperate citizen plea for peace in the country. The official AUCISS report was to be launched on January 29th, 2015, but the AU decided to postpone it, arguing that it would hamper progress in the peace process, which had at the time become more promising than it had been since it began 15 months earlier.

But now, there is neither a peace agreement nor a credible report on human rights abuses and conflict-related atrocities that have been committed by both sides of the conflict in the course of the past 15 months of the war. The latter particularly, the leak of a rather shoddy and unprofessional report, has been shocking and disappointing. Shocking on account that the AU would allow its name to be put on such a poorly done document, to the detriment of its already tarnished name among many Africans who see the continental body as a good-for-nothing outfit; and disappointing on account of both the apparent overstepping of the AUCISS mandate and the impractical recommendations it has made.

This Sudd Institute’s weekly brief reviews the merits and the demerits of the leaked AUCISS document and situating it in the context of the termination of the IGAD-mediated negotiations for political settlement in South Sudan. The brief presents what we see as the value and weaknesses of the report and concludes that the AU has come as a disappointment for the people of South Sudan, even as the ultimate responsibility for their welfare had rested with the political leadership of the country in the first place.

Author Biography

Jok Madut Jok is a cofounder of the Sudd Institute. He is the author of three books and numerous articles covering gender, sexuality and reproductive health, humanitarian aid, ethnography of political violence, gender based violence, war and slavery, and the politics of identity in Sudan.

COUNTRY STRATEGY:

The WFP Kenya country strategy 2013–2017 calls for a shift from service delivery to capacity development of Kenya’s institutions to address hunger as the first responder to food and nutrition insecurity. Emphasis will be on strengthening the capacity of national institutions and county governments to assess, analyse, prepare for, and respond to, food and nutrition insecurity. WFP will invest in Kenya’s social protection systems, including supporting resilience safety-nets such as assetcreation activities and building on the success of the homegrown school meals programme for its sustainable expansion into the arid lands. Strategic partnerships with other development partners will be explored and expanded. Support to refugees will be sustained and durable solutions supported.

Highlights

• A total of 145,000 South Sudanese refugees have been assisted in Uganda since the influx began in mid-December 2013, including 91,3351 in Adjumani, 12,757 in Arua, 33,370 in Kiryandongo and 7,538 in Kampala.
  
• ProGres registration was temporarily halted across the settlements and Kampala as UNHCR began the handover of ProGres modules to OPM.
  
• International Women’s Day celebrations were held across all settlement locations with activities including drama, dance and other cultural activities.
  
• All settlements were involved in the Country Operation Planning meetings for 2016-17 during the week.

Highlights

• A total of 145,225 South Sudanese refugees have been assisted in Uganda since the influx began in mid-December 2013, including 91,5461 in Adjumani, 12,771 in Arua, 33,370 in Kiryandongo and 7,538 in Kampala.
  
• Biometric ProGres registration continues to be halted as the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) roll-out their new Registration Information Management System. Manual registration is being carried out in the interim.