U.S. military advisors and African partner forces face difficulties in their mission to end the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, and to capture rebel leader Joseph Kony, because of heightened regional instability and insufficient helicopter support, argues a new Enough Project report.
The government and the armed opposition have signed a ceasefire, in a hopeful step after weeks of bloody fighting.
While combatants signed a cessation of hostilities agreement in Addis Ababa yesterday, devastation caused by the conflict, which began in December 2013, continues to be uncovered.
Today, South Sudan’s government and opposition forces signed a cessation of hostilities agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Following weeks of intense mediated talks, this agreement is just the first step on South Sudan's long road to a durable peace.
As South Sudanese, we worked hard to persevere through two civil wars. Now, our chance to have freedom and prosperity is threatened by political tension and ethnic division.
Today, South Sudan’s government and opposition forces signed a cessation of hostilities agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Since the clashes between the South Sudanese government and rebel forces broke out in late December, the toll on the civilians caught in the crossfire has escalated more rapidly than many could have predicted.
For the past month, South Sudan has been engulfed in an expanding civil war. The United Nations estimates that over 395,000 people have been displaced by violence, 352,000 internally, of which 60,000 have sought shelter at U.N. compounds around the country. The Satellite Sentinel Project has just released a new report, that augments existing reporting on South Sudan's civil war with satellite imagery of Mayom and Bor, captured from 300 miles above the earth.
Earlier today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations convened to hear testimony from panel experts and discuss the role of the United States in the, “Situation in South Sudan.”
Today the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a hearing on the urgent crisis unfolding in South Sudan. The U.S. has played a crucial role in supporting past peace efforts in Sudan and South Sudan over the past couple decades, and should continue that tradition now. There are a number of specific things the U.S. can do to make a real difference in supporting peace right now in South Sudan that I outline in my testimony.
Testimony of John Prendergast, Co-Founder of Enough Project, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the situation in South Sudan given on January 9, 2014.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Enough Project’s Co-founder, John Prendergast, will testify Thursday, January 9 at 10:15am at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, “The Situation in South Sudan", along with a panel of Africa, and Sudan experts including Ambassador Princeton Lyman, The Honorable Linda Thomas Greenfield, The Honorable Nancy Lindborg, and The Honorable Kate Almquist Knopf.
The New York Times' Room for Debate posed the question: Given the critical role the United States and other foreign entities played in the creation of South Sudan, what is their responsibility as the region faces another civil war? Six panelists weigh in.
As of the evening of January 4 (Juba time) there is growing alarm, even panic among civilians who are receiving conflicting reports from a wide range of sources—some open, some confidential, but all having an impact on those living in or near Juba and Bor, and in towns and villages between these capitals.
On December 15, political infighting within South Sudan's ruling party mutated into an ugly and violent confrontation on the dusty streets of South Sudan's capital city.
As divisive violence rocks the world’s youngest nation, the U.S. has a role in averting civil war.
After suffering so long for independence, South Sudan faces a new civil war. What the country’s leaders and the international community can do to contain the crisis.
On December 15, violent clashes erupted on the streets of Juba, South Sudan’s capital city. While the details surrounding the spark of the violence are unclear, it is already apparent that these clashes have the potential to destabilize the entire country. Despite the operational constraints posed by the U.S. embassy’s evacuation of all non-essential staff, the United States government can and must do more to help avert a return to civil war in South Sudan. In an open memorandum the Enough Project outlines possible steps the U.S. could take in addition to what is presently being done.
In this open memorandum we outline possible steps the U.S. could take in addition to what is presently being done, including the immediate deployment to Juba of U.S. Special Envoy Donald Booth, U.S. support for mediation efforts by South Sudanese church leaders or the East African regional organization IGAD (the Intergovernmental Authority on Development), and the creation of safe havens for civilians by the U.N. peacekeeping mission.
Today, President Obama announced Ambassador Donald E. Booth as the new U.S. special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan.
The Enough Project is no longer operational. Its mission is continued by The Sentry, an investigative organization providing new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts. Explore The Sentry’s work at TheSentry.org.