Monday 5 November

• The National Constitutional Amendment Committee held its first meeting in Juba.

Tuesday 6 November

• Despite the release of 900 child soldiers so far in 2018, the UN reported that thousands of child soldiers are unlikely to be freed any time soon due to lack of funds for aid agencies.
• Vice President James Wani Igga said opposition groups fighting the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) after the pre-transitional period will be treated and referred to as terrorists.
• Ryan Lenora Brown in CS Monitor: “Voice of a Nation: How Juba Arabic Helps Bridge a Factious South Sudan”.

Wednesday 7 November

• GoSS officials and a section of the SPLA-IO agreed to allow humanitarian access and facilitate free movement in the Juba area.
• The Ceasefire Monitoring body urged the peace partners to direct their forces to stop violent clashes in Yei and Wau.
• Paul Burkhardt in Bloomberg: “South Sudan Oil Outlook Hinges on Shaky Peace Deal, WoodMac Says”.

Saturday 10 November

• The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission organized a meeting for the Opposition Alliance of Gabriel Changson to discuss involvement in the Joint Defence Board.
• News 24: “Marchar’s Return Signals a Significant Stage in South Sudan’s Peace Process”

Sunday 11 November

• SPLA-IO commanders visited peace partners of the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces in Bieh, Imotong, Raja and Yei River states. The purpose of the meetings was to build trust between the parties.

Wednesday 31 October

• Riek Machar returned to Juba for the first time in two years to participate on the peace celebrations.
• During the peace celebrations, President Salva Kiir apologized for “the immense suffering” caused by the civil war.
• Special representative of the Secretary General and head of UMISS, David Shearer’s speech at the peace celebrations can be read here.
• Jason Burke and Benjamin Takpiny in The Guardian: “South Sudan Celebrates New Peace Accord Amid Joy – and Scepticism”.

Friday 2 November

• Researcher Francesco Checchi estimated that the number of casualties in South Sudan between December 2013 and April 2018 is 382 900, which is nearly eight times higher than the prior UN estimates at 50 000. Read Checchi’s report here.
• Abraham Telar Koc for Modern Diplomacy: “Nile Basin and South Sudan Diplomacy”.

Saturday 3 November

• The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) released Riek Machar’s former spokesperson James Gatdet Dak and West African advisor William John Endley. Both had been sentenced to death earlier this year.

Sunday 4 November

• Sudan accepted assistance in negotiations over a peace settlement for the civil war in the border regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
• The GoSS oppose revision of the 32-state federal system.
• The non-signatory group People’s Democratic Movement called for a new National Alliance for Democracy and Freedom Action as a “tool to achieve fundamental change in South Sudan”.

Tuesday 23 October

• IGAD deploys Regional Protection Force and establishes a Joint Assessment Team tasked to monitor the security situation of South Sudan.
• The non-signatory Federal Democratic Party accused the SPLM-IO of attacks in the Upper Nile.
• IOM South Sudan: “Migration Health Unit Report, July-September 2018”.

Wednesday 24 October

• Parties to the peace agreement are to attend the peace celebration in Juba 30 October. In a letter to president Kiir, Riek Machar requested three measures to be taken before his return to the capitol: the release of all political prisoners and detainees, the lift of state of emergency and the lift of the ban on opposition parties’ activities.
• Mark Ferullo in The Sentry: “Banking on War: Ending the Abuse of South Sudan’s Banking Sector by Political Elites and Pushing for Peace”.

Thursday 25 October

• Five political detainees were set free, which is in accordance with the peace agreement.

Sunday 28 October

• SPLM-IO blamed government forces for initiating violence in Yei River.
• The Chinese government donated 1.5 million USD to South Sudan to prevent the spread of Ebola.
• The South Sudan Patriotic Movement banished Malong Majok Yor, one of its prominent members, and accused him of conspiracy against the group.

Monday 15 October

• The first meeting of the pre-transitional committee was postponed due to logistical reasons and will now start on the 21 October.
• A recent documentary by John-Allan Namu accused Paul Malong for committing war crimes during the conflict. Malong strongly denied the allegations.

Thursday 18 October

• Logistics Cluster: “South Sudan – Access Constraints Map”
• Relief Web: “South Sudan Fact Sheet #12, Fiscal Year 2018”

Sunday 21 October

• A UN report stated that the SPLA-IO committed war crimes in Western Equatoria. SPLA-IO spokesperson Col. Lam Paul Gabriel denied the accusations.
• Egypt announced it will organize training programs for South Sudanese cadres.

PRIO is arranging a lunch seminar 1 November: “How southern Sudanese displaced people in Khartoum worked out what liberation might mean”. For Facebook event see here.

Monday 8 October

• The information minister Michael Chiengjiek said the situation in the detention center in Juba was resolved peacefully. The government of South Sudan (GoSS) agreed to grant prisoners with lawyers and fair trials.
• The National Pre-Transitional Committee will conduct their first meeting in Khartoum on the 14-15 October.
• The South Sudan Unified Front – Sudan section broke away from the group leader Paul Malong and declared its support for the peace agreement.

Tuesday 9 October

• Deng Alor from the SPLM Former Detainees (FD) ratified the peace agreement after a meeting with President Kiir. However, the leader of the FD, Pagan Amam, rejected the peace agreement and said he will not participate in its implementation.

Thursday 11 October

• The UN Security Council voted to extend the UN peacekeeping force in Abyei.
• Henry Ridgwell for VOA News: “Researchers say Human Toll of South Sudan War ‘as bad as Iraq or Syria’”.

Friday 12 October

• The SPLM/A-IO called on the GoSS to release key detained members of the group.

Sunday 14 October

• The SPLM-IO criticized the GoSS for militarily assaults against opposition-held areas.
• Al Jazeera: “Sudan: From Troublemaker to Peacemaker?”

Monday 1 October

• Sudan’s minister of foreign affairs Eldirdiri Mohamed Ahmed called on the UN to mandate a doubling of the prospective regional protection force to monitor the implementation of the South Sudan peace agreement.
• The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission lauded the release of all Prisoners of War and Political Detainees.
• President Kiir sacked the advisor on gender and human rights, Rachael Nyadak Paul. No immediate explanation was provided.

Tuesday 2 October

• President Kiir is renaming the SPLA to the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces.

Friday 5 October

• Medicins Sans Frontières returned to full services in Maban after having suspending its activities in July (see TWISS – week 29 and 30).
• Relief Web: “South Sudan: Physical Access Constraints Map as of 5 October 2018”.

Sunday 7 October

• Prisoners in Juba’s Blue House detention center disarmed guards and seized control over part of the center. Reportedly, the actions were taken by protesting political prisoners .
  • Amnesty International: “South Sudan: Juba prison revolt underscores deep problems in justice system”.

Tuesday 25 September

• South Sudanese surgeon Dr. Evan Ata Adaha was awarded the 2018 UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award.
• President Kiir appointed Malek Reuben Riak Rengu, a UN-sanctioned general, as deputy defence minister.
• Mahmood Mamdani in New York Times: “The Trouble with South Sudan’s New Peace Deal”.

Wednesday 26 September

• The SPLA and SPLA-IO accused each other for renewed violent clashes in Western Bahr el Ghazal and Unity states.
• President Kiir appointed Deng Dau Deng Malek as deputy foreign minister.

Thursday 27 September

• President Salva Kiir named the 10 members of the National Pre-Transitional Committee: Tut Kew Gatluak, Henry Odwuor, Gabriel Changson, Martin Elia Lomuro, Michael Makuei Lueth, Dhieu Mathok Diing, Awut Deng Achuil, Deng Alor Kuol, Puot Kang, and Peter Mayen Majongdit.
• Relief Web: “South Sudan: Force Protection Map as of October 2018”

Friday 28 September

• President Kiir ordered the immediately release of prisoners of war and detainees. While Nyagoah Pur, Human Rights Watch, argues that “Government Should Take [further] Steps to End Abuses” by releasing those held without charge and investigate all allegations of abuse and torture of detainees.

Sunday 30 September

• South Sudan’s foreign minister Nhial Deng Nhial did not acknowledge Western Sahara as an independent state in a meeting with the foreign minister of Morocco, Nasser Bourita.

Monday 17 September

• Extra-Ordinary IGAD summit endorse R-ARCSS and request the UN Security Council to review its mandate for the Regional Protection Force.

Thursday 20 September

• At a briefing for the UN Security Council, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean Pierre Lacroix reported on an increasingly stable security situation in Abyei, thus advocated that the Security Council should entrust its peacekeeping force with the mandate to maintain law and order in the region. Sudan opposed the proposal.

Saturday 22 September

• The East African Standby Force announced that they are ready to deploy troops to South Sudan should the African Union request so. The EASF has previously not been deployed to any mission.
• The SPLM-IO National Liberation Council endorsed the revitalized peace agreement.
• A split occurred within the South Sudan National Movement for Change (SSNMC) where one faction rejected the peace agreement. The faction wants to dismiss its chairman Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro due to his endorsement of the agreement. The military commanders of the SSNMC continue to support Bakosoro.

Sunday 23 September

• Out of concern for his own safety, Riek Machar declined an invitation from President Kiir to visit Juba.
• The leader of National Salvation Front, Thomas Cirillo Swaka, said they are not committed to a ceasefire in South Sudan.

Monday 10 September

• The International Committee of the Red Cross reported that the ceasefire in South Sudan appears to hold. However, the SPLM-IO accused government forces of violating the ceasefire agreement.

Tuesday 11 September

• The Government of South Sudan extended oil production agreements with four companies: South Sudan’s Nile Petroleum Company, Malaysia’s Petronas, China National Petroleum Corporation, and India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

Wednesday 12 September

• President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar signed what is referred to as the final peace agreement.
• The National Salvation front, People’s Democratic Movement, the National Democratic Movement and the United Democratic Republic Alliance, refused to sign the peace agreement.

Thursday 13 September

• Communities in Jonglei state agreed to cease hostilities over grazing land.
• PRIO Global Fellow Luka Biong Deng Kuol in Radio Tamazuj: “Making the cost of non-implementation higher than the cost of implementation of the agreement”.

Saturday 15 September

• A SPLA soldier shot at a convoy protected by UNMISS in Yei, which left a Nepalese peacekeeper wounded. The UN condemned the attack.

Monday 3 September

• The parties to the recent ceasefire agreement started a three-day workshop on ceasefire and transitional security arrangements.

Tuesday 4 September

• South Sudan refugee representatives met with the key stakeholders of the Khartoum peace negotiations.
• Amnesty International reported that South Sudanese authorities have arbitrarily arrested, detained, tortured and ill-treated people despite promises to release detainees.
• Luka Biong Deng Kuol in Radio Tamazuj: “Does it make sense what is happening in Khartoum?”

Thursday 6 September

• China decided to contribute with 268 peacekeepers to South Sudan for a one-year mission.

Friday 7 September

• The South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) issued a three-days ultimatum for the National Salvation Front and the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) to decide on whether they will continue the peace process as part of the opposition alliance or alone.
• Abdel Bahi Ayij Akol declared the end of a dispute between leaders in the South Sudan Patriotic Movement/Army.

Saturday 8 September

• President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar are expected to sign a presumably final peace accord at a summit in Addis Ababa on 12 September.

Sunday 9 September

• The PDM rejected the revitalized peace agreement because it did not incorporate goals from the SSOA.
  • The IGAD special envoy for South Sudan transmitted the concerns from opposition groups to the IGAD Council, and will discuss them at the upcoming IGAD meeting.