and is in the midst of an economic crisis. Severe hunger looms for more than
across the country.
President Salva Kiir and his rival,
Vice President Riek Machar, declared a
cease-fire Monday. The declaration is largely holding thus far, but it is unclear if all armed parties will heed this call for calm in the long run. If this embattled country wants to keep hope alive for a lasting peace, it is imperative that this cease-fire holds and the bloodshed does not spread.
Despite this alarming violence in the capital, my team at Mercy Corps’ work in South Sudan continues. All of our staff is safe and accounted for, but mounting tensions make everyone nervous.
With thousands of newly displaced people in immediate need of health care, water and sanitation, and the rainy season increasing the chance of waterborne and infectious disease spreading, Juba is in need of assistance more than ever.
Organizations like ours are ready to help fulfill these urgent needs, but first we must ensure that this cease-fire survives, and that safe passage for humanitarian actors is guaranteed. Destruction and damage to humanitarian facilities is unacceptable and must stop.
Mercy Corps has worked in South Sudan since 1995. In addition to providing clean water and sanitation services and operating schools for children, we deliver essential supplies such as fishing and farm tools, and create jobs through cash-for-work projects such as dyke construction, designed to prevent flooding of farmland. These efforts go a long way toward securing a stronger future for the people of South Sudan, but this progress is now under grave threat.
On top of the conflict, the rainy season has made it markedly more difficult and expensive to transport commodities through much of the country. Some of our staff members — almost all of whom are from South Sudan — walk through waist-high water and hike hours to get supplies to families in need.
In Juba, several people in our team have had to flee their homes in the past few days and seek shelter with relatives or in churches. One member has been at her church since July 8 — she went home only briefly to get food and then immediately returned to the church. This trend is becoming more and more necessary for many living around Juba.
A community needs assessment that we completed on July 14 found that while more civilians are moving throughout Juba, and shops are reopening as a result of the cease-fire, many people still find the atmosphere tense and worrying. One resident whose family’s house has been damaged by shelling said, “We want to go home, but where is home now?”
The South Sudanese are a resilient people who embrace life. I have long heard people here talk hopefully about what life will be like “when peace comes.” This week, as the delicate cease-fire takes shape, our staff members report that shopkeepers are trying to reopen businesses, but in some places there is nothing left to sell. During the lead-up to this most recent round of violence, after so many delays and impediments in the implementation of the August 2015
peace deal in which tension grew, I noticed on more than a few occasions that the conversation had shifted to not “when” but “if peace comes.”
We strongly urge all parties to uphold the truce so that this conflict may be brought to a quick and peaceful resolution. Bodies like the
African Union and the
Intergovernmental Authority for Development must take more robust action to back a cease-fire and hold all parties accountable.
The international community must sustain its interest in South Sudan. The headlines will fade, but the needs will not. South Sudan is a country on a precipice, and all of our help and attention is needed now, and in the months to come, if this new country is to realize its bright future.
*Source
HuffPost.Author is Country Director for Mercy Corps South Sudan