Month: August 2014

Church leaders have held prayers and a conference for peace in the Jonglei State capital, Bor.
Bishops, government officials and the residents of Bor Continue reading Peace prayers held in Jonglei’s Bor

Representatives of nineteen political parties have left Juba for the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to participate in the peace talks scheduled for tomorrow. Continue reading Opposition parties to Addis for peace talks

A prominent civil society activist has been shot at in Juba Town last night. Continue reading Prominent civil society activist survives attack

A report by the United Nations says a growing number of people displaced during the crisis are returning to their homes. Continue reading More than 220,000 displaced return home: UN

A committee has been formed to investigate claims of mismanagement in the Food for Assets project of the World Food Program.

There were reports that not all the food rations meant for the vulnerable group in Northern Bhar al-Ghazal State reached them.

WFP in collaboration with the State Agriculture Ministry conducted a one-day workshop for a technical committee, which will have the responsibility of finding out if there was corruption or inefficiency during the distribution.

The director general at State Agriculture Ministry, Joseph Garang, Garang, says the training was necessary so that the committee can report accurately.

He says the government will take the action if the committee finds evidence of wrong-doing or mismanagement.

Communities in Northern Bahr El-Ghazal State have been trained on how to minimize violence in their families and neighbours.

The International Rescue Committee conducted a three -day training in Aweil East County.

Representatives from police, chiefs, women, youth, boma and child welfare workers were among those who attended.

The I-R-C’s Women empowerment deputy project manager, Peter Garang Wol, said they trained people about how they should reduce violence in their homes:

Albino Akol Kuol, a police officer says he will try to implement what they have learned during the training.

The newly appointed Administrator of Greater Pibor, David Yau Yau, says his first priority is to restore security and stability to the area, which has been a scene of violence since he rebelled in 2011.

He also says people of greater Pibor who fled to neighboring countries during the four-year conflict must return home.

General Yau Yau told Eye Radio that he met with Ethiopian and Kenyan government officials and discussed with them the possibility of repatriating his people back home.

“I will talk with the Government of South Sudan to see to it that these people return home because there is no any reason for them to continue to live abroad,” he said.

“I am going to discuss with our government to give us support so that we repatriate these people since there is stability now and our area needs work now,” he added.

David Yau Yau was appointed the Chief Administrator of Greater Pibor Area on Wednesday as part of a deal he signed with the government on.

He will be in charge of the seven counties that were created by a separate presidential decree to constitute the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, which will be autonomous from Jonglei State.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have released a report detailing abuses against the media by the South Sudanese government.

They are calling for the National Security Service in the country to stop seizing and shutting down newspapers as well as harassing, intimidating, and unlawfully detaining journalists.

The report documents unlawful restrictions on the media in South Sudan since December 2013.

They claim that the clampdown by the government of South Sudan on the press has prevented national discussions about lasting solutions to the political crisis and internal armed conflict.

But Government Spokesperson Michael Makuei denied the content of the report.

“I think our journalists are the only people enjoying full rights here [in the] region,” Michael Makuei told Eye Radio.

“Here in South Sudan, we have given freedom to the journalists except on issues to do on national Security, which is the security of the nation and his people,” the minister said.

“In which part in the world are the journalists supposed to report on whatever to do with the security of the nation?”

In terms of print media, over the past seven months, the government has held issues of Juba Monitor newspaper eight times, and in June, an entire run of the Citizen was seized.

The Almajhar Alsayasy newspaper was given explicit instructions to cease publication. The government has also stopped broadcast interviews with the SPLMS/SPLA in Opposition figures.

Mr Makuei insists the government is granting enough rights to journalists. He said the government only shut a newspaper that it considers to be owned by the SPLM in Opposition.

The report recommends that the South Sudan Human Rights Commission should monitor illegal restrictions on freedom of expression, and should report on the issue regularly and publicly.

Peace talks between the government and the SPLM in Opposition have been postponed to Monday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

The talks were initially scheduled for Friday.

Mediators from the regional body IGAD say the delay has been caused by the extended holidays of the EIdt el-Fitr and the Matyrs’ Day in Juba.

Delegates from both parties are expected to arrive in Addis Ababa on Sunday, according to a statement by the mediators.

It says that political parties, civil society and religious organizations are expected to attend the session.

The agenda will be to finalize and sign the matrix of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and the negotiation of the Transitional Government of National Unity.