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The offensive got underway last week, in the state, now the current flashpoint between the armed forces, the SPLA-IO and other armed groups, amidst church leaders’ calls for restraint. The military had ordered all civilians and aid workers to evacuate the three counties. Now, there are reports of humanitarian facilities being looted, assets confiscated, and aid workers being harassed.
“The tension is still very high, but we continue to urge the parties in the conflict to immediately cease hostilities,” said Rev. Tut Kony Nyang, general secretary of the South Sudan Council of Churches.
In an earlier statement, the cleric emphasized, “the church calls for genuine, inclusive, and sustained dialogue among all parties as the only peaceful and constructive means to address differences and safeguard the future of the nation.”
At least 200,000 people have been displaced in the last month in the state, amidst a sharp rise in cholera cases. In Jonglei, 125 cases of cholera were reported in January, and 479 cases countrywide. According to agencies, 10 million people in South Sudan urgently need humanitarian assistance.
“We have just gotten out of a bad outbreak of cholera, the worst that South Sudan has seen, with over 97,000 cases overall. Treatment centers are overwhelmed and critically short of supplies. An emergency response in Jonglei is currently underway,” said Anita Kiki Gbeho, the United Nation Mission in South Sudan chief, in a statement on 30 January.
With the violence, the church has moved to respond. Catholic Bishop Barani Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio on 25 January launched an urgent appeal for humanitarian assistance for communities displaced by the violence in Jonglei and Western Equatoria.
“We urgently call upon humanitarian partners, donor agencies, and all people of goodwill to support lifesaving assistance particularly in the areas of emergency food assistance, water, sanitation and hygiene, emergency shelter and food and nonfood items, health and nutrition services, and protection and psychosocial support,” said the bishop.
South Sudan gained independence in 2011, but in 2013, the world’s youngest nation descended into a brutal civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people and created millions of refugees.
The war ended with the signing of the Revitalized Peace Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan in 2018. However, many of the pact's commitments, including general elections and reforms in national security, were never implemented.
Now, breaches of this pact and its power arrangements by President Salva Kiir’s government are seen as the key factors pushing the opposition and allied groups back to war.
“We strongly emphasize that the full, faithful, and timely implementation of the Revitalized Agreement…remains the most credible and viable pathway to sustainable peace and stability that the people of South Sudan rightly deserve,” said Nyang, while reaffirming the church’s unwavering commitment to peace, reconciliation, and stability.
Another of the churches’ concerns is a proposed amendment of the agreement which the denominations warn, if pursued prematurely or unilaterally, risks undermining the spirit, intention, and gains of the agreement. The churches want open discussion on any amendments, if deemed necessary, until a consensus is reached.
“Peace and stability cannot be built through selective implementation or actions taken outside the collective will of the signatories,” warned Nyang, as he called on the parties to exercise responsibility, restraint, and good faith.
