A refugee family from South Kordofan at a registration centre in Yida, South Sudan. Credit: UNHCR/K. Mahoney
8 January 2013
OCHA’s Director of Operations, John Ging, said at UN Headquarters today that he had asked the Security Council for help for some 900,000 Sudanese people who are in need of humanitarian aid in South Kordofan and Blue Nile provinces and in neighbouring countries where they have sought refuge. Continue reading
Presidents Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan (left) and Salva Kiir of South Sudan. UN Photo/Isaac Billy
27 September 2012 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today congratulated the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan for signing agreements on security, the common border and economic relations during talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
“These agreements provide vital elements in building a strong foundation for a stable and prosperous future between the two countries,” said a statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson. Continue reading
New York, 27 September 2012
The Secretary-General congratulates the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan for signing agreements on security, the common border and economic relations. These agreements provide vital elements in building a strong foundation for a stable and prosperous future between the two countries. Continue reading
Photo: Hannah McNeish/IRIN - Hamis Hamadin Isa Zaag, a refugee from Sudan’s Blue Nile State, is now living in a camp in South Sudan
GENDRASSA, 13 September 2012
Over 105,000 refugees have fled conflict in Sudan’s Blue Nile State, seeking safety in four camps in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State, since last September, when government forces clashed with rebels who had previously fought alongside the newly independent South.
Between April and July, a mass influx of people used up pre-positioned food and contingency stocks after rains cut off road access to the camps; the World Food Programme responded by airlifting in food. The UN’s Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says that malnutrition and disease are abating, but that recent gains could be quickly undone by another large wave of refugees. Continue reading
Photo: Hannah McNeish/IRIN - Yida refugees wait for soap and salt
MABAN COUNTY, 21 September 2012
Aid agencies say water and food provision has improved in four camps housing more than 105,000 refugees from Sudan’s Blue Nile State, but flooding, disease and an influx of additional refugees pose new threats.
Two new camps have been set up in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State to ease the strain on facilities in Jammam camp, which is suffering myriad health problems associated with recent floods.
“The conditions here in Gendrassa [camp] are okay, [though] there is still a lot of malaria. In Jammam, there is still a lot of diarrhoea. Here, we have some control over it,” said Sheikh Abdel-Aziz Fadul, a refugee. Continue reading
US Representative to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHCR), Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe
Geneva, Switzerland
26.09.2012
Sudan: U.S. Deeply Concerned by Brutal Violence Over Past Year in Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile Continue reading
Presidents Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan (left) and Salva Kiir of South Sudan. UN Photo/Isaac Billy
21 September 2012 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council today welcomed the resumed negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan and urged them to resolve all remaining issues.
Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, and his counterpart from South Sudan, Salva Kiir, are scheduled to meet on Sunday in Ethiopia to finalize agreements on all issues being discussed under the talks, held under the auspices of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel. Continue reading
Defenceweb
Written by UN News Service
Monday, 10 September 2012
The head of the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, known by the acronym UNAMID, has called for an end to the latest round of violence – reportedly leading to several casualties – to affect a town in the Sudanese state of North Darfur. Continue reading
Item 2: General Debate—Annual Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Reports of the OHCHR and SYG
Statement by the Delegation of the United States of America
Delivered by Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe
Human Rights Council 21st Session
Geneva
September 10, 2012
Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Madame High Commissioner. Continue reading
An internally displaced mother and her children among IDPs in South Sudan. Photo: UNMISS/Gideon Pibor
13 February 2012 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the signing of a non-aggression and cooperation pact between the governments of Sudan and South Sudan and urged both countries to maintain the positive spirit that led to the agreement and abide by its provisions.
The Memorandum of Understanding on Non-Aggression and Cooperation signed in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Friday calls for the respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs and rejects the use of force in relations between the two countries.
Mr. Ban also encouraged both countries to reach agreement on all other outstanding issues, according to a statement issued by his spokesperson. Continue reading
The UN estimates 140,000 people need help - Photo: Hannah McNeish/IRIN
Several clashes involving thousands of combatants in South Sudan’s Jonglei state have highlighted the volatility of the world’s newest country, affecting some 140,000 people. A major new offensive has been announced to start in early March.
What is Jonglei?
With a surface area of 123,000 sqkm, the largest and also the most densely populated of the 10 states in South Sudan. It suffers from a dearth of basic infrastructure such as roads, as well as chronic insecurity rooted in resource conflicts, and frequent floods.
Crop production is the primary economic activity, although cattle and fishing play an important role in livelihoods. Sudan’s second civil war began in Jonglei in 1983. the region is home to six Nilotic ethnic groups: the Nuer, Dinka, Anyuak, Murle, Kachipo and Jieh. Continue reading
South Sudan rebel groups are said to be forcefully recruiting southerners in Khartoum to bolster their ranks (file photo) - Photo: Guy Oliver/IRIN
JUBA-KHARTOUM, 8 February 2012 – Rebel groups fighting South Sudan’s government have bolstered their ranks through the forced recruitment of southerners living in Khartoum, according to a senior official in Juba, a self-styled rebel leader, and a man who escaped a pressgang in Sudan’s capital.
Although the alleged forced recruitment appears to have died down since a reported spate of abductions in late December, South Sudan’s information minister and government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said it was still taking place sporadically.
It happens “from time to time, it is random; they don’t have specific dates when they carry it out. Even if it goes down [in frequency], doesn’t happen for two or three days, you hear again a week later the same process is being repeated over and over again,” he told IRIN. Continue reading
Susan E. Rice
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York, NY
February 2, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Continue reading
Sudanese refugees at a relocation site in South Sudan's Unity State © UNHCR/C.Mballa
JUBA, South Sudan, January 24 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Tuesday condemned an air attack earlier this week that left at least one Sudanese boy injured and 14 other refugees missing in South Sudan.
“Bombing of civilian areas must be condemned in the strongest terms,” Mireille Girard, UNHCR’s representative in South Sudan, said of Monday’s attack, which targeted Elfoj in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state.
There were two strikes. In the first one, several bombs fell at the refugee transit site, located less than 10 kilometres from the border with Sudan. At the time, about 5,000 refugees were at the site from where movement to new settlements takes place on a daily basis.
UNHCR and International Organization for Migration (IOM) teams with 14 trucks were supervising relocation operations when the first wave of bombings took place. Refugees jumped out of the trucks and scattered. Agency staff also had to seek safety. Continue reading
Amb. Baso Sangqu of South Africa
23 January 2012 – The Security Council today strongly condemned this weekend’s attack on a United Nations-African Union patrol in Darfur, which resulted in one death, and called on the Sudanese Government to bring the perpetrators to justice.
One Nigerian peacekeeper serving with the mission, known as UNAMID, was killed in Saturday’s attack and three others were wounded, one of them seriously.
“The members of the Security Council expressed their condolences to the family of the peacekeeper killed in the attack, as well as to the Government of Nigeria,” Ambassador Baso Sangqu of South Africa, which holds the 15-member body’s presidency for this month, said in a statement read out to the press. Continue reading
UN Peacekeepers serving with joint United Nations-African Union Mission (UNAMID) in Darfur
21 January 2012 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned today the ambush by an unidentified group on a United Nations-African Union patrol in Sudan’s Darfur region that led to the death of a Nigerian peacekeeper and the wounding of three others.
The attack on the joint UN-AU peacekeeping force (UNAMID) took place near Saleah, Eastern State of Darfur.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban urged the Government of Sudan to carry out a speedy investigation and to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.
The Secretary-General also expressed his condolences to the Government of Nigeria and to the family of the fallen peacekeeper. Continue reading
© UNICEF Sudan/2011/Kogali Mahasin Ali with her sons, 1-year-old Sami and 3-year-old Suleyman, on the day of their arrival at a UNICEF-supported nutrition centre in North Darfur, Sudan
By Issraa El-Kogali and Priyanka Khanna
EL FASHER, North Darfur State, Sudan, 18 January 2012 – Abu Badriya is a soft-spoken man with a face that lights up when he smiles. A traditional healer, or ‘faki’, by profession, he has become an unusual but important partner in the fight against child malnutrition in this part of Darfur.
He stands tall and wears his turban and ‘djallabia’ – traditional Sudanese attire – with grace. But like many here, he bears scars from the years of conflict in Darfur. A bullet wound to his right leg left him with a limp and ongoing pain.
His role as a healer means many people turn to him for help. Parents sometimes bring their sick children to him for a form of traditional healing called ‘ruqaya’.
But Mr. Badriya understands that, in many cases, especially those involving children, conventional medical treatment must be used as well. Continue reading
Susan E. Rice
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York, NY
January 17, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ambassador Rice: As you well know, we just heard a very disturbing briefing from Under Secretary General Amos and High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres about the grave unfolding humanitarian crisis in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states in Sudan. Yesterday, I sent a letter to the Council on behalf of the US government that provided facts and documentation and maps produced by the Famine and Early Warning Network about the unfolding humanitarian crisis and providing information collected from aerial and other sources that underscores the urgency of the humanitarian situation there. Continue reading
High Commissioner António Guterres meets with a group of South Sudan returnees
9 January 2012 – The head of the United Nations refugee agency today urged the international community to show greater solidarity with South Sudan as it strives to cope with enormous humanitarian challenges as tensions between communities cause internal displacement amid a refugee influx from Sudan.
“This country is facing at the present moment, six months after independence… a number of huge humanitarian challenges that needs massive solidarity from the international community,” said António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who is on visit to South Sudan, in an interview with UN Radio. Continue reading
High Commissioner Guterres meets with a group of South Sudan returnees, elated to be in their new homeland after days on a barge on the Nile
DORO CAMP, South Sudan, January 9 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres on Monday called on the international community to provide “massive” humanitarian support for South Sudan, which faces major forced displacement crises.
Without such help, Guterres warned after meeting refugees in Doro camp, “it will not be possible to respond…We could face a humanitarian disaster of enormous proportions.” Doro hosts at least 28,000 people who have fled to South Sudan to escape fighting in Sudan’s Blue Nile state between the Sudan armed forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North. Continue reading