South Sudan
Latest South Sudan News - August 2024
On 1st August 2024 we caught up with both Bishop James Lule and Rev Dr Michael Kiju, the new principal at Kajo Keji Christian College, on a Zoom call. We were able to ask them firsthand about the current situation in their part of South Sudan.
Encouraging News
The encouraging news is that getting on for half of the refugees have now returned to their homes in Kajo Keji. The college, all bar some accommodation blocks, have now been renovated following the damage that was caused during their recent troubles.
It appears that the long awaited and now signed ‘revitalised’ peace agreement is generally holding and the relationships between the military and the civilian population continues to improve. The local church, under the leadership of Bishop James are playing a central role in brokering the ongoing peace agreements.
The six schools (5 primary, 1 secondary and 1 college) in Kajo Keji are slowly being renovated and starting to accept pupils again. A good education system is essential to enable the rebuilding of the confidence of the people in the region after so many years of troubles.
Remaining Challenges
As with all things in one of the world’s newest and most fragile countries the challenges still remain. Some of the former fighters have kept their guns which, along with some of the fall-out groups that did not sign the agreement, has lead to occasional insecurities and troubles. And of course with half of the population still in refugee camps in Uganda, the logistics, time and cost challenges of supporting these groups of people remains difficult.
On the refugee camps
UNHCR rations are in short supply and only available to the elderly and vulnerable children. Although nearly half of the refugees have returned home, the lack of food and space to grow crops on the camps remains a life threating problem.
Across South Sudan 1.3 million children under 5 are suffering acute malnutrition.
In April 2024 a heatwave, with temperatures of over 45 degrees Celsius, caused schools to close. And now in August 2024 the South Sudanese are having to cope with excessive rainfall which is washing away the vital crops that are needed to keep the population alive.
Civil War and Unrest
The relationship between South Sudan and Sudan (where civil war broke out in 2023) is at an all-time low over the disputed oil rich land between the two countries’ borders. An economically important oil pipeline has been ruptured by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which is fighting the Sudanese army for power in the country.
The Story of South Sudan
After many years of war, South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, achieved independence from the north in 2011. It is estimated that almost 400,000 people died in the five-year civil war that started in 2013. The country’s leaders, Mr Kiir and Mr Machar eventually signed a peace deal in 2018 and formed a unity government.
Since then, the country has battled flooding, hunger, violence and political bickering as the peace agreement has yet to be fully implemented. While large-scale clashes have subsided, violence in parts of the country persists. 2,240 people were killed in 2023, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project
In 2022, the Norwegian Refugee Council listed the conflict in South Sudan as one of the world’s 10 most neglected crises.
The people in the country regularly suffer from malnutrition which is primarily caused by extreme weather with flooding and severe heat waves a common occurrence.