Western donors have halted funding for South Sudan’s peace deal implementation, until East Africa’s leaders find a credible way of relaunching an agreement that has been tattered by the worsening conflict.
South Sudan descended into war in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his then-deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup against his government. Machar denied the accusations but then went on to mobilize a rebel force to fight the government.
A peace deal signed in 2015 has continually been violated by the warring factions, the latest incident coming in 2016 July when Riek Machar – who had returned to the capital to take up the position of first vice president in a unity government – fled Juba after his troops clashed with those of President Kiir.
Since then, the country has dived deep into chaos, forcing millions to flee their homes.
The United Nations now lists South Sudan as Africa’s biggest refugee crisis, and third wordwide after Syria and Afghanistan.
Donors from the European Union, the United States, Britain and Norway said they would no longer continue their support.
Meanwhile, an election that is scheduled to take place in 2018 remains unassured as fighting continues to shatter the world’s youngest nation.
The election was part of the 2015 peace deal, but with more than half of South Sudan’s populations displaced, there is little hope that it would go on as scheduled.
