“It is deeply disappointing that the transitional government of South Sudan has yet to deliver the peace and stability the people of South Sudan deserve,” said Ambassador Dorothy Shea, Acting U.S. Representative to the United Nations.
Despite significant international efforts to support South Sudan’s post-conflict recovery, stabilization, and reconstruction, South Sudan’s leaders have failed to demonstrate the political will to do their part. This includes integrating the armed forces, using public revenue transparently and appropriately, creating civic space, and renouncing violence as a tool for political competition. “South Sudan’s leaders from all parties share responsibility for these failures,” declared Ambassador Shea.
Most recently, the actions of South Sudanese leaders have signaled de facto abandonment of the 2018 peace agreement on which the transitional government is based. “We cannot pretend that the agreement is being implemented while First Vice President [Riek] Machar is under house arrest, others from his party are in detention, and [the South Sudan People's Defense Forces’] military strikes continue against other South Sudanese,” said Ambassador Shea.
Generations of South Sudanese citizens remain trapped in a cycle of conflict, acute need, and disenfranchisement due to the lack of political will on the part their leaders to change a system that affords them power. The most recent violence in Upper Nile State, Jonglei State, and other parts of South Sudan highlight the devastating consequences of this failure to break that cycle.
Aerial bombardments and ground attacks between April 1 and July 15 have displaced 300,000 people, while escalating military operations across the country have resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths and destroyed critical infrastructure. Women and girls endure conflict-related sexual violence, and children are maimed, killed, or forcibly recruited into combat. The escalating crisis has forced over 132,000 South Sudanese to seek refuge in neighboring countries between April 1 and July 15, further destabilizing the region and straining host nations.
More than 70 percent of South Sudan’s population now requires humanitarian assistance. Yet humanitarian services provided by the international community have been systematically hindered by both the most recent conflict and by decades of violence against humanitarian workers, predation, and corruption.
These unilateral actions by the transitional government clearly violate the 2018 peace agreement, undermine unity, threaten to return the country to another civil war, and deprive South Sudanese people of their homes and livelihoods, and deny the country peace and prosperity.
The United States strongly urges all parties to immediately cease hostilities, release all unjustly detained political prisoners, and recommit to the principles of dialogue to prevent further violence.
US Urges South Sudan Leaders to Recommit to Peace
A mother and her child sit patiently, waiting for their turn to receive ready-to-eat therapeutic food at Koat Nutrition Center in Akobo East, South Sudan
“It is deeply disappointing that the transitional government of South Sudan has yet to deliver the peace and stability the people of South Sudan deserve,” said Ambassador Dorothy Shea, Acting U.S. Representative to the United Nations.