Reporters wait for a press conference by a government delegation to the Kenya-led talks at the Ministry of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services, on Friday, July 5, 2024 📸(Lou Nelson/Eye Radio)

South Sudan has dropped to 136th position on the World Press Freedom Index 2024, according to an Index by Paris-based Reporter Without Borders (RSF).

This represents a fall of 18 positions just within a year. South Sudan was ranked at position 118 in the 2023 report.

Despite the low ranking, South Sudan is ranked above countries in the region.

They include Eritrea ranked at 180, Egypt at 170, Sudan at 149, Somalia at 145 Rwanda at 144, and Ethiopia at 141 global rankings.

However, countries ranked above South Sudan in the region are Tanzania at 97, Kenya ranked 102, Burundi at 108, DRC at 123, and Uganda ranked 128 globally.

The report says from January to date no Journalist has been detained in South Sudan.

It says that freedom of the press is extremely precarious in South Sudan, where journalists work under constant threat and intimidation, and where censorship is ever-present.

Reporters Without Borders stated that press freedom is being threatened by the very people who should be its guarantors – governments and political actors.

As more than half of the world’s population will vote in 2024, RSF is drawing attention to the fact that political parties of all tendencies are increasingly neglecting their role as guarantors of press freedom.

The media rights group stated that they are seeing a worrying decline in support and respect for media freedom and an increase in political pressure.

It added that this is often accompanied by a tendency to question the role of journalists, or even to use the media to conduct harassment or disinformation campaigns.