E. Equatoria launches task force on gender based violence
Radio Tamazuj, April 17, 2025
The Ministry of Gender in Eastern Equatoria State, with support from the UNMISS Gender Unit in the Torit Field Office, launched a state taskforce on gender based violence (GBV) and child-related sexual violence (CRSV) on Wednesday. The taskforce comprises different institutions including the government, UN agencies, civil society, international NGOs and women groups among others.
South Sudan on the brink as peace deal falters, UN warns
UN News, April 16, 2025
Nicholas Haysom, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan, warned that a political standoff between President Salva Kiir and former First Vice President Riek Machar – the two principal signatories to the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement – has now degenerated into direct military confrontation. Volatility is mounting amid reports of renewed mobilisation by the White Army militia and South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) in Upper Nile state, the alleged recruitment of children, and the deployment of Ugandan forces at the government’s request.
South Sudan’s main opposition party seeks an international probe into alleged government abuses
APN, April 15, 2025
The main opposition group in South Sudan demanded Monday an international probe into alleged rights abuses in recent fighting that saw government troops target areas loyal to the group’s longtime leader, Riek Machar, who is under house arrest. Machar, the country’s vice president whose political rivalry with President Salva Kiir has repeatedly threatened to tip South Sudan back into civil war, is accused of subversion.
MSF hospital forcibly closed in Ulang, Upper Nile state, following armed looting
Médecins Sans Frontières, April 15, 2025
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) strongly condemns the armed looting of our hospital and premises in Ulang, Upper Nile state, South Sudan. On the morning of 14 April, dozens of armed men stormed the MSF hospital and office in Ulang town, threatened staff, and looted vital medical supplies and equipment. As a result, all medical services at the hospital — the only functioning health facility in the area — have been suspended. “We are outraged by the attack on our hospital and the threats against our medical staff in Ulang,” says Zakariya Mwatia, MSF head of mission in South Sudan. “This facility has been a lifeline for the community at a time of escalating violence and an active cholera outbreak. Such attacks on hospitals and healthcare workers are completely unacceptable…”
