This Week in South Sudan – Week 8

Monday 22 February

• The Enough Project: “South Sudan’s Central Bank Demands Accountability for U.S. Dollar Auction”
• VICE In Photos: “The Children Fighting For an Education in South Sudan”

Tuesday 23 February

• International Crisis Group: “South Sudan’s Peace Needs More than Tents and Generators”
• South Sudan’s warring parties have agreed on a security arrangement that allows 1,370 SPLA (IO) forces to deploy to Juba ‘immediately’ in March.
• The SPLA denied reports that government forces were involved in the violence that broke out at the UN Protection Site in Malakal, Upper Nile State last week.
• The SPLA warned of a security vacuum should its forces withdraw from the national capital, Juba, in implementation of the security arrangements signed with the SPLA (IO).
• A senior SPLA (IO) official, Aguer Rual, defected to the government, accusing Riek Machar of “treachery.”
• The South Sudanese government announced they will pull out excess presidential guards force division from its headquarters located south of the presidential palace in Juba.

Wednesday 24 February

• At least five people were killed, 35 others wounded and thousands more displaced in Pibor, Jonglei State, following clashes between SPLA forces and SSDM Cobra Faction. A MSF medical compound was also looted in the process, diminishing the already scarce medical care available.
• Riek Machar met with the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa to discuss the implementation of the August 2015 peace deal.

Thursday 25 February

• Riek Machar met with the former president of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, to discuss the reunification process of the SPLM factions.
• NPR Audio Report: “South Sudan Faces New Obstacles To Implementing Peace Deal”

Friday 26 February

• Riek Machar announced he will return to Juba  in March.
• NPR Audio Report: “Living In A Camp By A Ruined City, They’re Strangers In Their Own Land”
• SPLA soldiers have started to desert their areas of deployment in the newly created Wau State – former Western Bahr el Ghazal State, due to lack of food and ammunition.
• A recent report by the SUDD Institute warns of a possible economic collapse if the government does not make radical reforms and adjust expenditure.
• International media cover of UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon visit in Juba:
  • Reuters: “Ban urges South Sudan president, rebel leader to form government”
  • Bloomberg: “UN’s Ban Urges South Sudan Leader to Put Peace Before Politics”
  • Voice of America: “Kiir Tells UN Chief He Will Implement S. Sudan Peace Accord”
  • The New York Times: “UN Chief to South Sudan: Respecting Peace Deal Not an Option”
  • Radio Tamazuj photos: “Ban Ki-moon visits South Sudanese displaced”

 Saturday 27 February

• The United Kingdom is calling for the immediate imposition of an arms embargo on South Sudan by the UN Security Council.
• The New York Times: “The Killing Fields of South Sudan”