South Sudan South Sudan Today’s latest from Al Jazeera
“Many young people migrate when they’re very young and have no cultural guidance,” he says. People often came over to learn about the customs of South Sudan’s many tribes. But Abuk and the actors in his theater troupe have now started teaching the art of storytelling to children, weaving in morals of tolerance and reconciliation during performances in the country’s displaced-persons camps. “The rulers of South Sudan are not guided by cultural values.” The river agreed—on the condition that she not eat its children, the fish.
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.
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. This included about 1.66 million internally displaced people (IDPs), an estimated 53.4% of whom were children, and nearly 644,900 refugees in neighbouring countries. By April 2026, more than 1.3 million people had entered South Sudan, including 900,000 South Sudanese returnees. In 2026, South Sudan remained in a severe humanitarian crisis, with around 10 million people, about two-thirds of the population, estimated to need humanitarian assistance. As of December 2017, an estimated 42% of the South Sudanese population was facing severe security conditions, with most of the affected being young people and children. Conflict and insecurity have further weakened the health system by damaging facilities, reducing access to basic services, and restricting humanitarian access.
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.
Nearly eight million people in South Sudan at risk of acute hunger: NGOs
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.
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.
Foreign relations
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.
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.
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.
Sudanese Civil War (2013–
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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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.
By 2014 and 2015, about one third of the population faced crisis or emergency levels. Early conditions fluctuated between stressed and crisis levels, with localized emergencies along the Sudan border. Food insecurity has been a persistent and recurrent crisis in South Sudan since independence in 2011.
Lessons from Past Proposals and Initiatives to Reform the Security Sector
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.
- The majority of languages spoken in South Sudan are classified within the Nilo-Saharan Language family, specifically the subbranches of Nile Sudanic and Central Sudanic; most of the remainder are part of the Adamawa-Ubangi branch of the Niger-Congo family.
- Sudanese Arabic, the prevailing dialect in Sudan, has approximately 460,000 speakers, primarily in the northern regions of South Sudan; it has been described as the de facto language of national identity.
- Three years later, he lives and teaches amid a sprawl of white tarp-covered huts and teahouses in the heavily guarded Protection of Civilian camp in Juba, the capital city.
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The Boma-Jonglei Landscape region encompasses Boma National Park, broad pasturelands and floodplains, Bandingilo National Park, and the Sudd, a vast area of swamp and seasonally flooded grasslands that includes the Zeraf Wildlife Reserve. South Sudan’s protected area of Bandingilo National Park hosts the second-largest wildlife migration in the world. About 400,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the war, including notable atrocities such as the 2014 Bentiu massacre. Inter-ethnic warfare in some cases predates the war of independence and is widespread.
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.”
Other religions include various traditional indigenous belief systems, and Islam. Sudanese Arabic, the prevailing dialect in Sudan, has approximately 460,000 speakers, primarily in the northern regions of South Sudan; it has been described as the de facto language of national identity. The most common languages are Dinka (1.35 million), Nuer (740,000), Bari (595,000), and Zande (420,000), which are collectively spoken by approximately 60% of the population; other major indigenous languages include Murle, Luo, Ma’di, and Otuho. The majority of languages spoken in South Sudan are classified within the Nilo-Saharan Language family, specifically the subbranches of Nile Sudanic and Central Sudanic; most of the remainder are part of the Adamawa-Ubangi branch of the Niger-Congo family.
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.
National capital project
- They were at first were pastoralists, and then diverged as pastoralists and agriculturalists.
- 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.
- 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.
- They imagined that someday tourists would flock to the Sudd, one of the world’s largest marshlands, or Boma National Park, home to an annual antelope migration that rivals the Serengeti’s.
- 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.
Duckie Thot became a global sensation thanks to her flawless skin, high cheekbones, and doll-like appearance. Her return to fashion marked a new chapter in her career, where she now walks runways and participates in more culturally inclusive campaigns. Alek’s presence in the fashion industry shifted the global perception of beauty. Aliet Sarah represents a new generation of South Sudanese models taking over global fashion. The image went viral, and soon after, she was signed by a major modeling agency.
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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.
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.
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.
The name Sudan is a name given to a geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to eastern Central Africa. The South Sudanese population is composed mostly of Nilotic peoples spanning a variety of ethnic and linguistic groups.
Then there is also the Direr or Nubi, these people are a collection of tribes and their religion is Islam. They were at first https://gonzagalawreview.com/ were pastoralists, and then diverged as pastoralists and agriculturalists. Some of the tribes like Avokaya of Yei County, Lugbara and Keliko of Morobo speak one language with slight differences except Mundo and Baka which speak different languages.
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.
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.
The design, planning, and construction of the city was supposed to take as many as five years, government ministers said, and the move of national institutions to the new capital was supposed to be implemented in stages. Ramciel is considered to be the geographical centre of the country, and the late pro-independence leader John Garang allegedly had plans to relocate the capital there before his death in 2005. This proposal is functionally similar to construction projects in Abuja, Nigeria; Brasília, Brazil; and Canberra, Australia; among other modern-era planned national capitals. It was planned that the capital city would be changed to the more centrally located Ramciel. The largest protected area is the Sudd Wetland, which is an important bird life area covering 57,000 km2 (22,000 sq mi).
Citizens
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.
