Beset by hunger and violence, South Sudan marks fourth birthday

In a statement on Wednesday on the eve of the independence anniversary, the United Nations chief urged President Salva Kiir and ex- vice president Riek Machar “to prove their leadership” by finding a political solution and immediately concluding a peace agreement. “Peace, development and human rights are the birthright of all the people of South Sudan”.

They were drawing on the report of the Secretary General about the situation in South Sudan.

From New York, this is your World in 2:00 for Wednesday, July 8th, 2015.

The United States has vehemently criticised the extension of Salva Kiir’s term as President of South Sudan for another three years pending elections, arguing that the move has “squandered his legitimacy and subverted democracy” in the young nation.

Aid groups say about 3.8 million people, or a third of the population, are going hungry.

A civil war, between government troops and rebels loyal to Machar, has blighted South Sudan for the past 18 months. Regional support and cooperation for robust sanctions, an arms embargo, and discontinuing direct support to both factions is needed to ensure that the two leaders feel the consequences of not resolving the conflict.

Military assaults on opposition-held territory since the end of April have been described by the United Nations as reaching a “new brutality and intensity”.

South Sudan has suffered internal conflict and violence since the ex- vice president turned on the government in December 2013.

“You know, the people on the one hand are happy to mark the fourth independence anniversary of South Sudan”. The country’s resources are spent pursuing the war, and its economic production has been impeded by the fighting.

Ms. Rice recorded a message to the South Sudanese people.

Susan Rice, US Ambassador to Juba, it was heartbreaking to see what South Sudan had become today.

The refugee agency said only 9 percent of the money has been raised. At the same time, the South Sudanese must be responsible for the carnage of their civil war and the resulting humanitarian crisis, including starvation and many refugees. Health services that were basic before the war are in disrepair now.

Riek Machar made his statement in the capital of neighbouring Kenya as South Sudan’s parliament speaker formally extended Kiir’s term for three more years, as approved by lawmakers in a March vote. Meanwhile, among the millions that remain internally displaced, more than 100,000 have sought safety at increasingly crowded civilian protection sites run by UNMISS.

The report said that their presence sparked little enthusiasm among onlookers, some of whom said they believed those celebrating had been recruited by the government.

Samboya Par Gatluak, another South Sudanese in Kampala, say claimed the president had failed to bring peace in the country.