South Sudan

Averting Future Mass Atrocities in South Sudan as Peace Terms Stall

Pressing for certain "reforms" carries risks. The US, with allies, can take steps to help avert a further deterioration.

Oct. 6, 2022 Naomi Kikoler and Sarah McIntosh

Displaced villagers and their belongings are seen along a road after being evacuated from flooded water in Juba, South Sudan on September 28, 2021. Thousands of residents were displaced as rivers overflowed with heavy rain across parts of the country. (Photo by PETER LOUIS GUME/AFP via Getty Images)

South Sudan: The Road to a Living Hell, Paved with Peace Deals

A singular focus by the US and partners on power-sharing and elections to end the war has instead bred famine and a violent kleptocracy.

Jun. 13, 2022 U.S. Representative James P. McGovern and John Prendergast

Behind what appears to be a makeshift fence, a woman carries a sack of grain on her head as she stops to buy some local pastries at a roadside stall in Wau, South Sudan, on February 1, 2020. About 13,000 civilians were sheltered there under UN protection adjacent to the field office of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), just outside Wau town. They had fled massacres and burnings of villages during a ruinous six-year conflict between forces loyal to the government of South Sudan President Salva Kiir and those of his political rival, former Vice President Riek Machar. A string of failed truces and hollow promises has spawned distrust in the two rival leaders now facing intense pressure to uphold a permanent peace agreement. (Photo by TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images)

In South Sudan, Keep UN Peacekeepers Focused on Evolving Risks for Civilians

The transfer of "protection of civilian" sites to the government amid continuing threats requires extra vigilance from UNMISS.

Dec. 17, 2021 Lauren Spink

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres removes his protective facemask prior to attending a press conference, following the 5+1 meeting on Cyprus, in Geneva, on April 29, 2021. Behind him is a clock and the UN flag.

National Security This Week at the United Nations (April 23-30)

Secretary-General Chairs Three Days of Talks to Revive Cyprus Peace Negotiations Beginning Tuesday, Secretary-General António Guterres chaired three days of talks in Geneva to…

Apr. 30, 2021 Sruthi Venkatachalam

Two people hold signs during an anti-corruption protest march along Borrowdale road, on July 31, 2020 in Harare. One reads, “No to Corruption. Fix our healh system. We can’t breathe.” The other reads, “You know you have messed up when you make me march! #HandsOffOurConstitution #StopCorruption”

Fighting the ‘International Thief Thief’ with Global Magnitsky Sanctions

What can Global Magnitsky Act sanctions accomplish in the battle against corruption and human rights abuse? According to anti-corruption NGO The Sentry, a lot. Successful case…

Apr. 15, 2021 Brad Brooks-Rubin

Security Council members hold a videoconference in connection with Maintenance of international peace and security.

National Security Last Week at the United Nations (April 2-9)

United States Lifts Sanctions Against ICC Officials On April 2, President Joe Biden reversed one of former President Donald Trump’s executive orders, which imposed sanctions…

Apr. 9, 2021 Josh Asabor

Troops stand in lines with their hands behind their backs. U.S. Special Operations Forces and Mozambican leaders stand in front of the troops giving instructions as part of a two-month Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) training program.

Getting US-Africa Relations Back on Track With a Focus on Human Rights

The Biden administration needs to ensure that solutions it offers for the continent's challenges are Africa-led, inclusive, multilateral, and multifaceted.

Apr. 2, 2021 Andrea Prasow and Carine Kaneza Nantulya

Internally Displaced People, fleeing from violence in the Metekel zone in Western Ethiopia, walk on a route as others stand below in a camp in Chagni, Ethiopia, on January 28, 2021.

Ethiopia, Take a Lesson from Sudan and Stop the War in Tigray

Ethiopia need only look to Sudan to realize what’s at stake for the country and its people and to understand the consequences of history repeating itself.

Mar. 19, 2021 Cameron Hudson

Myanmar's Ambassador to the United Nations Kyaw Moe Tun raises a hand and addresses the General Assembly on Feb 26, 2021.

National Security Last Week at the United Nations (Feb. 19-26)

Increasing violence against civilians in South Sudan, Somalia; IAEA reaches temporary deal with Iran; human rights experts urge accountability at Guantanamo Bay. This and more…

Feb. 26, 2021 Josh Asabor

Women prepare raw groundnuts to cook at the Protection of Civilians (POC) site in Wau on February 1, 2020.

Changing the Calculus to Support Peace in South Sudan

If the Biden administration takes concrete steps to counter the incentive structure, the world’s youngest country may finally have a chance at peace.

Feb. 13, 2021 Brian Adeba

Children collect grain spilt on the field from gunny bags that ruptured upon ground impact following a food drop from a plane at a village in Ayod county, South Sudan, where World Food Programme (WFP) have just carried out a food drop of grain and supplementary aid on February 6, 2020.

A Landmark Report on Starvation as a Method of Warfare

On the 5th of October, the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, established in 2016 with a view to monitoring human rights and facilitating transitional justice in the country,…

Nov. 13, 2020 Tom Dannenbaum

Issa Konfourou, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mali to the United Nations, addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in Mali.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (Oct. 2 – 9)

WFP wins the Nobel Peace Prize; new PM appointed in Mali; conflict continues in Nagorno-Karabakh; and countries split on China's human rights record.

Oct. 9, 2020 Tim Hirschel-Burns