The UN voted to extend its presence in South Sudan for another year. However, its success in the country faces many challenges.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir (right) and his deputy Riek Machar shake hands in Addis Ababa to signify a peace deal in September, 2018.
AFP via Getty Images
South Sudan has been in the business of building peace for years but is no closer to implementing the roadmap to peace than when it drafted the first agreement.
It will be difficult to make the current peace agreement stick in South Sudan.
Mohamed Messara/EPA
The numerous opposition groups battling to unseat President Salva Kiir lack a shared agenda and common approach. Sadly, too, no group is working towards a unified future for South Sudan.
South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011 after a protracted war of independence that started in 1955. One internal struggle in this war was between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army’s (SPLA) leadership…
Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) forces on patrol following deadly fighting close to Malakal in October 16, 2016.
Reuters/Jok Solomon
There’s still hope South Sudan can avoid becoming a full failed state. This will require radical changes in Juba’s mindset and bolder action from regional and international players.
People who fled fighting in South Sudan arrive on the border with Uganda.
Reuters/James Akena
The risk factors at the heart of vulnerability to conflict can be resolved. But the first step is a ceasefire founded on an inclusive and credible agreement underwritten by the international community
Graves of unidentified people killed during fighting in Juba, South Sudan, in 2016. There are fears the country could descend into genocide.
Reuters/Adriane Ohanesian
The world needs to take urgent steps to stop the threat of mass massacres in South Sudan with tough measures that must include direct legal and financial sanctions against the main protagonists.
Women flee into the United Nations civilian protection site in Juba. The capacity of UN peacekeepers to shield civilians is now in doubt.
Adriane Ohanesian/Reuters
If fighting continues and controversial policies are not reversed, it’s only a matter of time before full scale fighting breaks out again in South Sudan.
The South Sudanese capital, Juba, has seen a serious uptick in violence.
EPA/Phillip Dhil
Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and Visiting Professor University of Buckingham, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs