South Sudan: Both Sides Blocking Aid, Displacing Civilians Human Rights Watch
Peter Abdul Rahaman Sule, the leader of the key opposition group United Democratic Forum, has been under arrest since 3 November 2011 over allegations linking him to the formation of a new rebel group fighting against the government. Civilians alleging torture claim fingernails being torn out, burning plastic bags dripped on children to make their parents hand over weapons, and villagers burned alive in their huts if it was suspected that rebels had spent the night there. On 25 November 2011, it officially joined the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a regional grouping of East African states.
Their presence on the runway isn’t just about fashion; it’s a statement about representation and the global shift toward inclusivity. South Sudan might be the youngest country in the world, but its impact on global fashion is anything but juvenile. Jal, a former child soldier turned musician, received good airplay and album reviews in the UK and has also been sought out for the lecture circuit with major talks at popular talkfests like TED. Most South Sudanese value knowing one’s tribal origin, its traditional culture and dialect even while in exile and diaspora. These conditions were further aggravated by disease outbreaks, limited access to health care, and inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services. By November 2025, the continued arrivals, alongside returning South Sudanese nationals, placed additional pressure on already strained markets, services, and natural resources, while a prolonged economic crisis sharply reduced household purchasing power.
You can also browse our phone directory by area code to find numbers in specific regions. Search for someone by name to get the latest and most detailed information about them including their address, phone number, email address and more. The agriculturalists out of these are the Bari, Kuku, the Kakwa, Avokaya, Mundo, Pojulu, Lokoya, Lulubo, Nyangwara, Keliko, Nyepo.
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Minor tribes have included the Nyepo in Northern Kajo Keji County and the Lokoya along the Nimule Road. Major tribes of Central Equatoria have included the Bari, Mandari, Pojulu, Kakwa, Keliko, Kuku, Lugbara, Avukaya, Baka, Nyangwara, Adio, and Lulubo. The major border crossing to the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo is at Dimo, a village in the state.
- The agriculturalists out of these are the Bari, Kuku, the Kakwa, Avokaya, Mundo, Pojulu, Lokoya, Lulubo, Nyangwara, Keliko, Nyepo.
- The 2008 White Paper on Defence, which aimed to restructure the SPLA into a professional force subordinate to civilian authority, was derailed by successive outbreaks of violence, notably in Jonglei in 2012 and the civil war in 2013.
- For weeks soldiers in Juba killed and raped with impunity, targeting minority tribes, foreign aid workers, and local journalists.
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- Of South Sudan’s ethnic groups the Dinka are the largest, the Nuer the second-largest, the Azande the third-largest, and the Bari the fourth-largest.
In an attempt to quiet critics in the north and consolidate his power, then-Sudanese President Jaafar al-Nimieri introduced new legal measures in 1983 that removed power from the southern regions to govern themselves. The peace deal included power-sharing agreements, security guarantees, and political and economic autonomy for the south. The fighting resulted in the death of half a million people, mostly civilians, and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
- This region has been negatively affected by war for all but 10 of the years since 1956, resulting in serious neglect, lack of infrastructure development, and major destruction and displacement.
- The findings highlight that violence is the primary driver of hunger in South Sudan.
- But as conflict raged outside Thomas’s office, funding for cultural projects such as archive construction and artifact collection was suspended.
- As in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Christianity is often blended with traditional beliefs.
- As of February 2014, South Sudan was host to over 230,000 refugees, with the vast majority, over 209,000, having arrived recently from Sudan, because of the War in Darfur.
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The last official census to take into account religion was in 1956, where a majority of people were classified as adherents of traditional beliefs or Christianity, while 18% were Muslim. The major ethnic groups present in South Sudan are the Dinka at approximately 40 per cent of the population, the Nuer at approximately 20 per cent, and the Azande at approximately 10 per cent, as well as the Shilluk and Bari. This region has been negatively affected by war for all but 10 of the years since 1956, resulting in serious neglect, lack of infrastructure development, and major destruction and displacement. After fighting broke out in December 2013, armed groups attacked civilians on ethnic grounds. Ethnic violence intensified after South Sudan’s independence, as unresolved grievances, weak governance, and political rivalry contributed to growing instability.
In July 2019, UN ambassadors of 37 countries, including South Sudan, signed a joint letter to the UNHRC defending China’s treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. In September 2011, a spokesman for the government said the country’s political leaders had accepted a proposal to build a new capital at Ramciel, a place in Lakes state near the borders with Central Equatoria and Jonglei. The capital of South Sudan is located at Juba, which is also the state capital of Central Equatoria and the county seat of the eponymous Juba County, and is the country’s largest city. The killings form part of a growing surge in violence across South Sudan, where forces aligned with President Salva Kiir are fighting armed groups believed to support opposition leader Riek Machar.
Ornamental staffs, beaded corsets, and brass pipes represented tribes from across the country. On South Sudan’s first birthday—July 9, 2012—de Garang invited traditional artisans to her inaugural Festival of Fashion and Art for Peace. Now hers is likely the largest collection in the country. The rest is still in Khartoum, despite a 2012 agreement that stipulates the return of cultural and archival materials to the south. “When the world becomes one place,” he says, brandishing a beaded staff, “traditional nations are told, ‘Do this, don’t do this.’ The challenge is that modernity is coming. Now his classes examine everything from marriage rituals to globalization’s effect on South Sudanese culture.
South Sudan’s Jonglei: Who burned homes and silenced hospitals?
Meet the archivists, folklorists, and curators fighting to preserve South Sudan’s history—and end its civil war. In Nyatim, Nyirol county, for example, about 3,000 displaced people who fled violence in Lankien and Pieri are sheltering in swamp areas without food or medical care, with ongoing government blocks on aid access, MSF said. In the first two months of the year the government-imposed a no-flight zone in opposition-held areas, including Lankien, Pieri, and Akobo, preventing the delivery of critical supplies and lifesaving evacuation of critically ill patients, the UN and MSF reported. UN Children’s Fund reported the suspension of at least 28 health and nutrition facilities and 17 incidents of looting of humanitarian supplies between January and March. On the same day, armed fighters looted an MSF health facility in Pieri, Uror county. On January 16, it ordered civilians and aid workers in “designated areas” including Bor, Duk, and Poktap, to vacate areas near military bases within 72 hours.
As a result, the country suffered serious neglect, a lack of infrastructure development, and major destruction and displacement. European colonial manoeuvrings in the region came to a head in 1898, when the Fashoda Incident occurred at present-day Kodok; Britain and France almost went to war over the region. Ottoman Egypt, under the rule of Khedive Ismail Pasha, first attempted to control the region in the 1870s, establishing the province of Equatoria in the southern portion. People affected by the violence included the Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Anyuak, Murle, Bari, Mundari, Baka, Balanda Bviri, Boya, Didinga, Jiye, Kakwa, Kaligi, Kuku, Lotuka, Nilotic, Toposa, and Zande. After Sudan’s first independent elections in 1958, the continued neglect of the southern region by the Khartoum government led to uprisings, revolts, and the longest civil war on the continent.
This was contradicted by President Salva Kiir, who announced South Sudan had officially embarked on the application process one month later. Analysts suggested that South Sudan’s early efforts to integrate infrastructure, including rail links and oil pipelines, with systems in Kenya and Uganda indicated intention to pivot away from dependence on Sudan and toward the EAC. Private bilateral creditors (i.e. private commercial banks and private credit suppliers) account for the majority of the remainder (approximately US$6 billion of the total debt). The region also contains many natural resources such as petroleum, iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold, diamonds, hardwoods, limestone and hydropower. The report described all sides but especially the South Sudan government SPLA forces and allied militia making targeted attacks on civilians based on ethnicity, systematically destroying towns and villages. In April 2014, Navi Pillay, then the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that more than 9,000 child soldiers had been fighting in South Sudan’s civil war.
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The Zande, Mundu, Avukaya and Baka, who entered South Sudan in the 16th century, established the region’s largest state of Equatoria Region.citation needed The majority of inhabitants adhere to Christianity or various traditional indigenous faiths, with a sizeable Muslim minority. The country continues to recover from the war while experiencing ongoing and systemic ethnic violence.
Citizens
The ruling SPLM has not been so much a political party with a military wing as the SPLA has been a military force with a political party. Most political elites with any influence on security policy have a background in the military. The timelines for the conduct of SDSR were not respected because of the delayed return to Juba of SPLM-IO leadership after the signing of the ARCSS and the resumption of fighting in Juba in July 2016 which saw the expulsion of SPLM-IO, the main cosigner to the ARCSS. The wide spectrum of representation in the SDSRB was aimed at ensuring local ownership of the process. The 2008 White Paper on Defence, which aimed to restructure the SPLA into a professional force subordinate to civilian authority, was derailed by successive outbreaks of violence, notably in Jonglei in 2012 and the civil war in 2013.
Nearly eight million people in South Sudan at risk of acute hunger: NGOs
During this same period, official records of Sudan claimed that one-quarter of the population of present-day South Sudan practised various traditional religions while only 5% were Christians. The other major denominations are Episcopal Church (3.5 million members) and the Presbyterian Church (one million members in 2012). In 2001, the World Christian Encyclopedia said that the Catholic Church was the largest single Christian body in Sudan since 1995, with the country’s 2.7 million Catholics being concentrated in what is today South Sudan.
Five humanitarian workers killed in convoy ambush in South Sudan
Communities that have already been weakened by years of crisis now face another cycle of deprivation and despair. The findings highlight that violence is the primary driver of hunger in South Sudan. Between July 2025 and June 2026, 2.11 million children aged 6–59 months and 1.15 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are expected to suffer acute malnutrition and be in urgent need of nutrition services and treatment.
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But as conflict raged outside Thomas’s office, funding for cultural projects such as archive construction and artifact collection was suspended. After independence, artifact collection teams traveled across South Sudan collecting traditional tools and crafts for a future national museum. No ground had been broken on the historic cultural complex, so artifacts collected for the museum were sent to the Nile River Museum in Egypt for safekeeping, while the archival documents were moved into a rented house. The next day, soldiers moved across the capital executing civilians. The cultural cornerstones Jok envisioned began to take form.
On December 27, 2025, the SPLA/IO warned civilians in northern Jonglei to flee to towns under opposition control including Pieri, Motot, and Palony. Following the order, most of the population fled, including 110,000 people into neighboring Ethiopia. Deliberate, targeted attacks on civilians and civilian property, unlawful killings, and sexual violence may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Forces from both sides have reportedly committed abuses, including killings and raping of civilians, as well as looting and burning of civilian property, Human Rights Watch said. Currently, World Vision is conducting rapid emergency assessments in Western Equatoria, where a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation following renewed political tensions and violent clashes between opposing armed groups, displacing over 150,000 civilians. We continue to work alongside the government, partners, and local communities to protect children and help families rebuild their lives with safety and dignity.
South Sudan descended into the South Sudanese Civil War from 2013 to 2018, enduring rampant human rights abuses, including forced displacement, ethnic massacres, and killings of journalists by various parties. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. It is understood that a cessation of hostilities and some measure of political will is required before genuine reform of the security sector can be initiated in South Sudan.
She’s since built it into one of the world’s largest collections of traditional South Sudanese artifacts. Then, in each region, they would have a festival and invite neighboring tribes to learn about one another. In the Protection of Civilians camp in Juba, Deng Nhial Chiok, 49, sings traditional songs with displaced children after teaching a class on South Sudanese culture. “International and regional actors should ensure accountability for the massive man-made humanitarian crisis and ongoing attacks on civilians and aid restrictions.”
Malnutrition also worsened, with 2.3 million children at risk of acute malnutrition, amid access constraints, health service disruptions, and a cholera outbreak affecting Upper Nile and Unity states. Neonatal and maternal mortality rates remain among the highest globally, life expectancy is low, and in 2016, the country had the second-lowest expected human capital among 195 countries. Muslims are relatively well integrated into South Sudanese society and represented in government; Muslim religious leaders are present in all major political ceremonies as well as peace negotiations. Additionally, each ethnic group has its own traditional belief system, all of which share a concept of a higher spirit or divinity, generally a creator god. Various scholarly sources, as well as the US Department of State, stated that a majority of southern Sudanese maintained traditional animist indigenous beliefs at the start of the 21st century, with Christians remaining a small minority.
Several smaller airports exist throughout South Sudan, the majority consisting of little more than dirt runways. A team was formed to assess South Sudan’s bid; however, in April 2014, the nation requested a delay in the admissions process, presumably due to South Sudanese Civil War. At the 14th Ordinary Summit held in Nairobi in 2012, EAC heads of state approved the verification report that was presented by the Council of Ministers, then directed it to start the negotiation process with South Sudan. In December 2012, Tanzania officially agreed to South Sudan’s bid to join the EAC, clearing the way for the world’s newest state to become the regional bloc’s sixth member. The application was initially deferred by the EAC in December 2012, and incidents with Ugandan boda-boda operators in South Sudan created political tension.
Additionally, a prolonged economic crisis has eroded household coping capacities and purchasing power, leaving millions on the brink of starvation. The NIF intensified the war with the south, conducting the fighting with systematic and widespread assaults against civilians. Meanwhile, northerners gained political and military strength and on June 30, 1989, Brigadier-General Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir led a military coup which brought the National Islamic Front (NIF) to power. Rather than fight for southern independence, the SPLA called for Sudan to be transformed into a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic state.
The continuing divisions between the different elements of the https://travelmateholidays.in/ security sector subsequently contributed to the outbreak of civil war following the political crisis within the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) party in December 2013. Due to the instability in the TGoNU, including the resumption of armed conflict in July 2016 and repeated breaches of ceasefire agreements, the actors mandated to lead the process of developing a reform blueprint have not made meaningful progress. This June, the government ratified three UNESCO conventions to protect monuments, intangible heritage—including folktales and dances—and cultural diversity.
Ajak Deng
For most of the 20th century, British colonial rulers treated the northern and southern regions of Sudan as two separate entities. Provide details of the business/company including the location, email address, phone number, postal address. Clicking on the ‘create account’ or ‘Apply now’ also leads you through the same process. This creates a single account that enables you access all government services online, including BRS.
