Hope is in short supply in South Sudan four years after independence, according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
He said instead of progress and development, the world’s newest nation is facing “unconscionable levels of violence”, widespread displacement and food insecurity.
South Sudan has been ravaged by a political crisis which began in December 2013.
A civil war in the new country broke out on December 2013 and the UN says South Sudan now ranks “lower in terms of human development than just about every other place on earth”.
As a result, more than two million people have fled their homes while 150,000 have sought refuge at UN facilities.
The UN Secretary-General recalled the joy and hope of South Sudan’s independence on 9 July 2011 which he had witnessed alongside crowds of proud citizens in the capital, Juba.
Today, these memories are painful as he described South Sudan as a country “where hope is in short supply.”
The violence over the past 18 months shows there can never be a military solution to the conflict.
He called on leaders, particularly President Salva Kiir and former Vice-President Riek Machar, to invest in a political solution and immediately conclude a comprehensive peace agreement.
”These leaders must also make public statements that that targeting of civilians will not be tolerated,”he added.
Ban also demanded that the warring parties allow humanitarian workers to access people in need.
Civilian Displacement
The number of South Sudanese civilians sheltering in UN bases has risen above 150,000 for the first time in 18 months of civil war, the United Nations said Tuesday.
A total of 153,769 civilians are now seeking safety behind the barbed wire of six peacekeeping bases of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Many fled into the bases, which are spread across the country, as war broke out in December 2013 and have never left because they are too terrified to venture out for fear of being killed.
But tens of thousands more have entered the bases during an upsurge in fighting since April, taking those seeking shelter to the highest number yet. Over 10,000 have arrived in the past week alone, according to official figures released by UNMISS.
Over 28,000 are based in the capital Juba, where aid workers are trying to stamp out a cholera outbreak that has killed at least 32 people since cases were first recorded last month, including inside the UN base.
