News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

UNMISS PoC sites Update No.196

Ten aid workers who were detained while on an assessment mission near Yei, Central Equatoria, have been freed. The humanitarian workers were held by an armed opposition group in South Sudan for more than five days, since 25 April. The humanitarian staff, all nationals, included one from UNOCHA, two…

The surge of violence in South Sudan’s Unity region “looks set to continue despite the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement that was signed last year,” according to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the United Nations mission in the country (UNMISS), David Shearer. He…

As our helicopter approaches Leer in northern South Sudan, all one can see is eerily empty, dry, sun-stricken land. The people we meet on the ground, however, have a different story to tell. It is one of human suffering on an unimaginable scale. Escalating fighting and brutality in the area may…

Mayen-Jur County, near Kuajok in the north-eastern part of the country, could potentially serve as a good example for conflict-ridden areas, where fighting is often fuelled by ethnic rivalries, elsewhere in the young nation. In Mayen-Jur, Nuer and Dinka cattle keepers are known to coexist and share…

Under the theme “Military women contributing to peace and Security”, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan today initiated a 3-day-long workshop targeting 120 female members of South Sudan’s armed forces, SPLA. “We do not get the respect we deserve from our male colleagues. We need to create a…

Holding a golden trophy high in the air in an act of celebration, Jacob Mach Kuany from Kapoeta Day Secondary School proudly represented his part of the country as the regional winner of the nationwide essay competition for Eastern Equatoria. Fellow students swarmed around Jacob to congratulate him…

Peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan have donated an assortment of some 30 different types of health-improving medicines to the main hospital and prison in Bor in the Greater Jonglei region. Military contingents from India, South Korea, Ethiopia, Nepal and Sri Lanka…

Amid high spirits and enthusiasm marked by cheers, ululations, robust drumming, singing and nimble dancing, the winners of the nationwide essay writing competition on Wednesday 9 May seized their much-deserved glistening trophies at Nyakuron Cultural Centre in the capital Juba. The writing…

Nyalei Yar has lived at a temporary protection site next to a small United Nations base in the Unity region of South Sudan for three years. She has no expectation of returning to her former home, as violence continues to plague the area. A recent surge in fighting has forced even more people to flee…

Life for Jikmir Puol has not been easy. The 30-year-old is a mother of five and all she wants for her children is “a better life and future”. But that is a difficult ambition to achieve in South Sudan which has been plagued by violence since civil war broke out in 2013. In her community in the…

It is a beautiful sunny morning with clear blue skies. A different day compared to the heavy rains and storm that hit Bor town only a few days ago. The rains caused flooding at Imperial High School, a school in the Jonglei region of South Sudan, forcing it to temporarily close and interrupting…