Famine was recently declared in parts of South Sudan, World Food Programme has air-dropped aid to catchment areas in the country. The world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was founded in 1945 with more than 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Friday.
Category: South Sudan
United Nations warns world faces largest humanitarian crisis since 1945
The world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was founded in 1945 with more than 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine, the UN humanitarian chief has said. The world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was founded in 1945 with more than 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine, the UN humanitarian chief has said.
UN Rights Chief Decries Trump’s US Immigration Policies
Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein chronicled a litany of human rights concerns worldwide, including “chilling indifference” among some leaders in the European Union toward migrants, a crackdown on lawyers and activists in China, and a new Russian law that may have been used “arbitrarily” to curb free expression. The US was among more than 40 countries examined in a wide-ranging speech on Wednesday, where the United Nations was warned that 2017 could prove to be a “pivotal year” for human rights amid terror attacks, security crackdowns, populism and the rise of “authoritarian-minded leaders”.
UN Rights Chief Decries Trump’s US Immigration Policies
Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein chronicled a litany of human rights concerns worldwide, including “chilling indifference” among some leaders in the European Union toward migrants, a crackdown on lawyers and activists in China, and a new Russian law that may have been used “arbitrarily” to curb free expression. The US was among more than 40 countries examined in a wide-ranging speech on Wednesday, where the United Nations was warned that 2017 could prove to be a “pivotal year” for human rights amid terror attacks, security crackdowns, populism and the rise of “authoritarian-minded leaders”.
South Sudan: bishop says presidenta s call for day of prayer is politically motivated a mockerya
A bishop in South Sudan has rejected President Salva Kiir’s call for a national day of prayer for peace, saying that the gesture is a “mockery.” “I have been praying for South Sudan every day,” said Bishop Santo Loku Pio Doggale, an auxiliary of the Juba diocese.
UN official urges South Sudan to allow food aid distribution
The U.N. humanitarian chief is demanding immediate access for aid distribution in famine-hit South Sudan amid continued fighting and the recent looting of a humanitarian organization. Stephen O’Brien said after a two-day visit to South Sudan that obstacles to humanitarian assistance continue, including active hostility, access denials, and bureaucratic impediments.
UN appeals for funds, relief access to S. Sudanese in need of aid
UN top relief official on Sunday called for immediate and unhindered access to South Sudanese in need of aid and urgent funding for the humanitarian appeal. Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said the UN urgently need additional funding to scale up, sustain and expand life-saving assistance and protection across all of South Sudan.
Some 100 million at risk of hunger and the number is rising
The number of people facing severe hunger worldwide has surpassed 100 million and will grow if humanitarian aid is not paired with more support for farmers, a senior United Nations official said. Dominique Burgeon, director of the emergency division at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said latest studies showed 102 million people faced acute malnutrition – meaning they were on the brink of starvation – in 2016, up almost 30 per cent from 80 million in 2015.
As South Sudan refugee flood continues, so do tales of abuse
More than 100,000 people have fled a single county in South Sudan in just three months as civil war continues amid warnings of genocide. The surge of more than half a million South Sudan refugees into Uganda since July has created Africa’s largest refugee crisis.
Famine in Africa: The looming disaster we can’t let happen again
The world’s newest country, South Sudan, is being hit by the first famine in the world for six years. OPINION: Any parent will tell you – you can pick out your child crying immediately.
South Sudan and Somalia to receive 100 million UK aid packages
International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced the new packages of UK aid for 2017/18 and called on the global community to step up their support in helping those in need. The Department for International Development said parts of South Sudan were now in famine, adding that in 2017 there was a credible risk of another three famines in Yemen, North East Nigeria and Somalia.
Drought drives food price spike in East Africa, UN warns
East Africa’s ongoing drought has sharply curbed harvests and drive up the prices of cereals and other staple foods to unusually high levels, posing a heavy burden to households and special risks for pastoralists in the region, the United Nations Agricultural Agency said today. “Sharply increasing prices are severely constraining food access for large numbers of households with alarming consequences in terms of food insecurity,” said Mario Zappacosta, a senior economist for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization , in a news release.
UN warns risk of famine is real in South Sudan
The UN humanitarian agency has warned that the risk of famine in South Sudan is real for thousands of people in conflict-affected communities and food deficit areas. In its latest report which cited food security and livelihoods experts, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said South Sudanese are likely to face extreme levels of food insecurity in an extended lean season from February to July 2017.
Museveni, British Secretary of State discuss refugees
President Yoweri Museveni has said the biggest challenge in handling and settling refugees is lack of resources that is hindering the provision of the support they need. Uganda received more than half a million new refugees from South Sudan, The Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi last year with South Sudan alone accounting for 238,145, Dr. Congo 215,309, Somalia 38, 176, Burundi 40,874,Rwanda 17,616, Eritrea 11,328, Sudan 3,103, Ethiopia 2,790 and others 1,034 bring the total number to 568,414 according to UNHCR Uganda office.
Unicef launches appeal of $3.3 bn to children affected by conflict, disasters
United Nations, Feb 1 – The UN Children’s Fund launched an appeal of $3.3 billion to provide emergency assistance in 48 countries around the globe, against the backdrop of children driven from their homes due to conflict, disasters and climate change. A total of 48 million children living through some of the world’s worst conflicts and other humanitarian emergencies will benefit from Unicef’s 2017 appeal, which was launched on January 31, Xinhua news agency cited a UN press release.
1,000 S. Sudan herders enter Uganda
About 1,000 Toposa pastoralists from South Sudan have crossed to Kaabong District in search of water and pasture for their animals. The pastoralists entered into Uganda last Friday with 10,000 livestock, including camels, donkeys, sheep and goats.
In Africa, Obamaa s presidency couldna t help but be personal
Africa was electrified by the rise of Barack Obama, the first U.S. president of African descent. It was in Africa that he signaled a historic opening toward Cuba, took aim at the twin scourges of corruption and dictatorship and sent thousands of troops to fight one of the most terrifying disease outbreaks in decades.
UN: hundreds raped, killed in South Sudan by military groups in violent July
The report details violence that occurred between July 8 and July 12, 2016, in the midst of a conflict between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition . UNMISS recorded 217 instances of rape by both armed groups, as well as many arbitrary arrests.
UN report says numerous abuses have occurred in South Sudan
South Sudanese government and opposition soldiers “blatantly ignored” international law during clashes in July that killed hundreds of people, according to a United Nations human rights investigation. The South Sudanese military swarmed throughout the capital with house-to-house searches and used language tests to identify civilians from different tribes, at times executing them on the spot, said the investigation by the U.N. Human Rights Office and the U.N. mission in South Sudan.
Carter: Guinea worm disease reported in 3 countries in 2016
Former President Jimmy Carter, who has been working for decades to eradicate Guinea worm disease, says only 25 human cases of the illness were reported worldwide in 2016. When The Carter Center joined the battle to eliminate Guinea worm disease in the mid-1980s, there were about 3.5 million cases in 21 countries, the former president said Wednesday.
Tom Hiddleston sorry for ‘inelegantly expressed’ speech
Tom Hiddleston poses in the press room with the award for best performance by an actor in a limited series or a motion picture made for television for “The Night Manager” at the 74th annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Tom Hiddleston is criticised for making thank you speech about…
‘No wonder Taylor Swift ended things!’ Tom Hiddleston ridiculed on social media for making thank you speech about South Sudan a plug for his Night Manager miniseries He should have been riding the crest of winning his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, in The Night Manager. But Tom Hiddleston’s thank you speech on Sunday has come under fire after he launched into a tale about visiting South Sudan.
Non-OPEC Voluntary Cuts Unraveling Before They Even Start
With much fanfare, OPEC held a press conference on December 10th at its headquarters in Vienna to announce that an agreement had been made with various non-OPEC producers: Azerbaijan, Kingdom of Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Sultanate of Oman, the Russian Federation, Republic of Sudan, and Republic of South Sudan commit to reduce their respective oil production, voluntarily or through managed decline, in accordance with an accelerated schedule. The combined reduction target was agreed at 558,000 barrels a day for the aforementioned producers.”
Juba University lecturers strike over detained colleagues
Academic lecturers have indefinitely suspended lessons at the South Sudan’s main University of Juba in protest to arbitrary detention of two academics. Academic staff president Philip Finish Apollo and natural resources lecture Zuher Sule were arrested on Thursday for holding a “secret meeting” after being suspended from the university by Vice Chancellor Prof.
New UN leader pledges to promote peace
Antnio Guterres took the reins of the United Nations on New Year’s Day, promising to be a bridge-builder but facing an antagonistic incoming U.S. administration led by Donald Trump , who thinks the world body’s 193 member states do nothing except talk and have a good time. The former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief said after being sworn-in as secretary-general on Dec. 12 that he will engage all governments – “and, of course, also with the next government of the United States” – and show his willingness to cooperate on “the enormous challenges that we’ll be facing together.”
New UN chief aims to make 2017 ‘a year for peace’
The new United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Sunday he would like to make 2017 a year to “put peace first,” in a message heralding the new year and marking his first day as the world body’s chief. Antonio Guterres speaks to the media after being sworn in as UN secretary general December 12, 2016 at the United Nations in New York The Portuguese former prime minister, 67, took over as UN Secretary-general from South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon, inheriting complex crises in Syria, South Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, North Korea and elsewhere.
New UN chief urges New Yeara s resolution: a Put Peace Firsta
Antonio Guterres took the reins of the United Nations on New Year’s Day, promising to be a “bridge-builder” but facing an antagonistic incoming U.S. administration led by Donald Trump who thinks the world body’s 193 member states do nothing except talk and have a good time. The former Portuguese prime minister and U.N. refugee chief told reporters after being sworn-in as secretary-general on Dec. 12 that he will engage all governments – “and, of course, also with the next government of the United States” – and show his willingness to cooperate on “the enormous challenges that we’ll be facing together.”
Ban Ki-moon buoyed by climate accord but laments conflicts
In this Aug. 12, 2015 photo provided by the United Nations, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks to the media at U.N. headquarters on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of civilians by U.N. forces, particularly in the Central African Republic. During Ban’s second term as Secretary General, the U.N.’s failure to deal effectively with sexual abuse by U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic and elsewhere have been widely criticized.
UN chief warns of South Sudan genocide unless world acts
In this Feb. 25, 2016, file photo, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks to the media in Juba, South Sudan. Ban warned Monday, Dec. 19, that South Sudan will be heading toward genocide unless immediate action is taken to impose an arms embargo and pressure leaders of the world’s newest nation to end hate speech, incitement and violence.
A rare view from inside South Sudan’s most-feared prison
More than 30 political detainees in South Sudan’s most notorious prison face torture, starvation or death, according to a Danish man detained alongside them for over two months before being released in late November. Henrik Tobiesen, a businessman and former United Nations de-mining worker who had lived in South Sudan for 11 years, told The Associated Press he was locked up for 67 days starting Sept.