AFRICA/SOUTH SUDAN - Towards the signing of the peace agreement to end the conflict described by the UN as "a threat to the peace of the entire region"

Juba (Agenzia Fides) - "A power struggle of an elite that has become a civil war and a threat to peace and security in the region". This is how the report of the Panel of UN Experts on South Sudan, published on August 21, describes the civil war which broke out in December 2013 that has devastated South Sudan. Today, August 26, the peace treaty is expected to be signed by President Salva Kiir. His rival, Riek Machar, already signed last week.
The fight of the SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army) between President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar, has sparked a series of large-scale inter-ethnic conflicts. The states most affected are those of the Upper Nile, Unity and Jonglei followed by those of Northern Bahr El Ghazal and Western Bahr El Ghazal, Warrap and Lakes, where clashes between sub tribes have intensified.
The humanitarian situation has deteriorated since the beginning of 2015. "The number of people facing severe food insecurity has almost doubled since the beginning of 2015 to an estimated 4.6 million, including 250,000 children who are severely malnourished — the highest numbers since the war began", says the report.
The document denounces that "since the offensive in the greater Upper Nile area began in April 2015, the intensity and brutality of the violence aimed at civilians are hitherto unseen, even in what has already been, without a doubt, an exceedingly violent conflict".
Some 750,000 people have been affected by the recent military campaign in Unity State alone and at least 138,000 of those who were receiving humanitarian assistance before the upsurge of violence are now without that assistance owing to insecurity.
The UN experts denounce the fact that humanitarian workers and United Nations Mission in South Sudan personnel alike are regularly being attacked, assaulted, harassed, detained, intimidated and threatened. In May 2015, humanitarian actors reported the same number of access-related incidents as the preceding two months combined. All parties to the conflict have been reported to divert humanitarian assistance, including by stopping humanitarian convoys at checkpoints and extorting money in exchange for safe passage or to permit the utilization of the roads. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 08/26/2015)