News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

“If we don’t stand firm to end this war, we shall have no future. Young girls are being raped every day, yet grandmothers are not spared either. I do not know where we are heading as a nation.” The passionate appeal of Alice Kiden David, a soldier and nurse of the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces…

“Human Rights oiye… oiye, oiye!!!!, shouted William Kuichiang from South Sudan’s Human Rights Commission in Bentiu, as he rallied those attending a celebration of those very rights. “Human rights oiyee, human rights oiye,” responded the men, women and students attending the event, commemorating the…

“If I take blood from any of you and ask that you identify which one is Dinka, Shilluk, Murle or Nuer, that will be impossible. Dinkas, Shilluks, Murlers, and Nuer – all have the same blood that unites us as South Sudanese people,” said Dr Agot Aleir Leek, Deputy Governor of Jonglei State. “We kill…

It was a blast! A harmless and joyous one, to boot. Residents of Yei this week rose to the occasion to celebrate Human Rights Day en masse. “I am delighted to celebrate this day as a blind man. It has given me hope that the rights of persons with disabilities are a part of human rights,” said Yei…

UNMISS Quick Impact Projects improve the lives of communities across South Sudan

As people gathered to commemorate the International Human Rights Day at Cuei Chok Primary School, I came across a group of seven teenage girls aged between 13 and 16 years seated with a 13-year-old boy. Attempting to talk to them, only the boy responded. Me: Why aren’t your sisters responding? Boy…

Local leaders, youth and women of the Gak and Manuer sections in the counties of Aloor and Malueeth in the Greater Lakes region have unanimously agreed to end five years of inter-communal conflict that has claimed at least fifty lives. “We must be willing to forgive and forget the past if we are to…

Inmates at the state prison in Malakal have received a gift of medical supplies from Indian peacekeepers serving with the UN Mission in South Sudan. The donation includes antibiotics, fortified malnutrition supplements and bandages. “This medicine will go a long way in helping the vulnerable people…

Emmanuel Kembe, VIP, Kawaja Revolution – all on one stage! The unusual artistic trinity came to life in Malakal early this week, as they fired up a boisterous crowd at a peace concert fittingly called Malakal United. “’Malakal United’ was a very, very wonderful title; I saw all people holding hands…

Thirty-two-year-old Nyakong Nyal Deng slowly steps back and looks away as she covers her face. Her fingers gently sweep over her eyes. She is hiding away her tears. As she narrates the cause of a now-healed scar on her right cheek, she pauses, but continues to weep briefly in silence. "I don’t want…

Every big journey starts with a small step. The first such steps, crucial ones at that, towards a happy family reunion have been taken by three young boys. Abducted in 2017, they have been released, and on Friday 14 December they arrived, from Bor, in Juba on board a helicopter belonging to the…

Arriving at a partly run-down building just after 8 a.m. with files in hand, Bentiu’s new mobile High Court officials immediately settle down to their business of the day – studying cases they have scheduled to start on a Tuesday afternoon. For the first time in more than four years criminal trials…