South Sudan: Red Cross says 100 Days to Alleviate the Suffering of Millions

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said peace and stability remain more than ever the prerequisites to alleviate the suffering of millions of South Sudanese following the decision to extend the pre-transitional period by 100 days.

ICRC said it remained highly concerned with their fate of South Sudanese in the absence of a political solution and if high levels of violence were to return.

“South Sudanese need to feel safe and are living in constant uncertainty of what the future will hold. Millions of them already rely on meagre resources and they could lose the little they have left if the situation deteriorates,” said James Reynolds, head of delegation for the ICRC in South Sudan.

The formation of a revitalized unity government was postponed from November 12 to mid-March 2019 following talks between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar in Kampala this week.

The meeting presided over by President Museveni observed the “incomplete critical tasks related to the security arrangements and governance, including the formation of the revitalized transitional government of national unity” to allow the extension of 100 days,

After years of war and violence, the peace deal signed in September 2018 by the main parties to the conflict has offered most of South Sudan a welcome period of calm and the ICRC says it has observed small but encouraging signs of improvement in the country.

“Humanitarian access has increased, food insecurity has reduced slightly, families are slowly returning home and some parts of the country are enjoying sustained stability. This has allowed the ICRC to shift part of its emergency food response toward a more sustainable approach through the distribution of seeds, tools and fishing kits,” said ICRC.

Many South Sudanese fear the current fragile stability could be short-lived and that conflict could break out once again.

In addition, recent massive flooding has put a large part of the population at risk, and while access to these communities is already complex, a resurgence in fighting could push the country back toward a humanitarian crisis of unknown magnitude.

The humanitarian body said this year growing numbers of South Sudanese have returned home, in part because of political tensions in refugee communities, in part because of increased hopes for peace. But their situation remains dire.

“I decided to come back to my country because of the political tensions in Sudan, and I heard that peace will be implemented here,” a South Sudan resident in Bentiu named Nyami told ICRC.

“Since I came my mother has been hosting me with my kids. All of us we are living in one tukul. We find it very difficult and congested to stay in this tukul, but I do not have any option.”

In many cases, returning residents have found their homes looted or destroyed and therefore must rely on relatives and humanitarian aid. Edina Augustino, who returned to Yei after three years in Uganda, observed: “We have really suffered and we all want to return [to South Sudan] because staying in a foreign country is not fine.”