This Week in South Sudan – Week 44

Wednesday 31 October

• Riek Machar returned to Juba for the first time in two years to participate on the peace celebrations.
• During the peace celebrations, President Salva Kiir apologized for “the immense suffering” caused by the civil war.
• Special representative of the Secretary General and head of UMISS, David Shearer’s speech at the peace celebrations can be read here.
• Jason Burke and Benjamin Takpiny in The Guardian: “South Sudan Celebrates New Peace Accord Amid Joy – and Scepticism”.

Friday 2 November

• Researcher Francesco Checchi estimated that the number of casualties in South Sudan between December 2013 and April 2018 is 382 900, which is nearly eight times higher than the prior UN estimates at 50 000. Read Checchi’s report here.
• Abraham Telar Koc for Modern Diplomacy: “Nile Basin and South Sudan Diplomacy”.

Saturday 3 November

• The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) released Riek Machar’s former spokesperson James Gatdet Dak and West African advisor William John Endley. Both had been sentenced to death earlier this year.

Sunday 4 November

• Sudan accepted assistance in negotiations over a peace settlement for the civil war in the border regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
• The GoSS oppose revision of the 32-state federal system.
• The non-signatory group People’s Democratic Movement called for a new National Alliance for Democracy and Freedom Action as a “tool to achieve fundamental change in South Sudan”.