UN reports a 35% increase in people affected by violence in South Sudan

According to a United Nations estimate, the number of persons impacted by violence in South Sudan increased by 35% over the final three months of 2023.

UNMISS, the UN Mission in South Sudan, has recorded 233 violent events involving 862 individuals. It added in a report issued on Monday that of that, 406 were dead, 293 were injured, 100 were kidnapped, and 63 were victims of sexual crimes connected to conflicts.

The number of victims recorded was 35% more than the previous quarter.

The first elections in South Sudan since a 2018 peace agreement between President Salva Kiir and his erstwhile adversary, Riek Machar, ending a five-year conflict that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, are scheduled for later this year.

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Violence caused by ethnic tensions and disputes over resources such as land has increased in various parts of the country in recent months, particularly in the oil-rich region of Abyei.

The head of UNMISS, Nicholas Haysom, said it is “doing all it can to prevent violence and build peace in the affected areas” and urged the South Sudan government to intervene and “resolve underlying grievances and build peace.”

It said it has conducted at least 10,000 peacekeeping patrols by land, air and boat over the past year.

South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest nations, also suffers from drought and flooding, making living conditions difficult for residents.

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The World Food Program in its latest country brief said South Sudan “continues to face a dire humanitarian crisis” due to violence, economic instability, climate change and an influx of people fleeing the conflict in neighboring Sudan.