US pledges $133 million for South Sudan refugees, displaced

Gai’s report at UN Headquarters in NY came after the July fighting between troops led by President Salva Kiir and those loyal to Vice President Riek Machar killed at least 272 people and forced more than 100,000 to seek refuge in neighboring countries.

Smith made the announcement at the High Level Side Event on South Sudan at the ongoing UN General Assembly in NY.

“We already have 13,000 United Nations troops in South Sudan who are sitting idle, not doing anything because there’s a problem with their mandate, and there’s also a problem with how they were selected”, Mr Deng said.

South Sudan’s new first vice president sent contradictory messages in NY on Friday concerning his government’s willingness to accept deployment of a 4,000-strong Regional Protection Force.

Gadet called for the removal of Taban Deng Gai, who was controversially named to replace Machar as the country’s First Vice President.

Maternal health issues have come into sharp focus as the humanitarian crisis deepens in South Sudan.

“He is out of the country but he does represent a very important element of the South Sudan community”. The United States, China, Britain and Norway were among those at the meeting hosted by U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson.

The Kiir government has resisted the United Nations decision, saying it violates South Sudan’s sovereignty.

The armed opposition reacted negatively to that move, warning that it would exacerbate tribal divisions.

Hopes that the peace deal signed last August might hold have been shattered after the recent July renewed fighting killed at least 300 people and sent Machar, the main signatory to the peace accord, into exile, raising the prospects to full scale civil war.

“I would like to also thank IGAD, AU Troika, UN EU and China for their tireless efforts in ensuring that there was an agreement reached to end the conflict and return South Sudan to a peaceful and stable path”, he said.

More than one million people have fled South Sudan since fighting broke out in December 2013, and more than 1.6 million people have been internally displaced.

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