South Sudan In Focus - VOA Africa

U.N. aid agencies are denied access to thousands of internally displaced persons in Yei River State; authorities accuse Boma youth of planning an attack on areas of Jonglei State; and President Salva Kiir schedules a meeting with Sudan President Omar al-Bashir.

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations is abruptly evacuated from a U.N. camp in South Sudan; South Sudanese NGOs say they face enormous obstacles in providing humanitarian aid across the country; and South Sudanese men take on jobs considered to be “women’s work” to earn money during the country’s economic crisis.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley arrives in Juba and meets with President Salva Kiir; the South Sudan Army sentences more than twenty soldiers for crimes largely committed against fellow soldiers; and a passenger motorboat capsizes while crossing the Nile River from Bor in Jonglei State to Mingkamn in Eastern Lakes State.

The leader of the National Salvation Front says the decision by his commanders to fight SPLM-IO forces in Kajo Keji was a mistake; the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations addresses the humanitarian situation in South Sudan; and authorities ban discos and nighttime parties held in Wau Town to discourage criminal activity.

Fighting continues between two rebel groups in Kajo Keji; the Central Bank of Kenya orders all commercial banks to freeze the assets of South Sudanese military commanders; and heavy rain and flooding destroys thousands of homes and government buildings across Boma State.

A South Sudanese army commander on trial for his role in last year's Terrain Hotel attack on aid workers dies of reported natural causes; the leader of the National Democratic Movement calls on the U.S. President to rescue South Sudan from “total collapse”; and the South Sudan Council of Churches says the upcoming forum to revitalize the peace agreement should focus on alleviating the suffering of ordinary citizens.

South Sudan’s first kidney hospital opens in Juba; piles of garbage go uncollected for several weeks in Bor; and South Sudanese children learn the importance of hand-washing to help prevent the spread of diseases, including cholera.

South Sudan’s civil society task force calls on IGAD to either set a specific date for revitalizing the peace deal, or hand over the mediation process; church leaders provide assistance to South Sudanese affected by food shortages; and UNICEF and partner agencies in South Sudan reunite 5,000 children with their families.

The Inter-Government Authority on Development (IGAD) confirms Riek Machar will not attend an upcoming forum aimed at revitalizing the 2015 peace agreement; the U.S. Agency for International Development works to address widespread food shortages across South Sudan; and a South Sudanese delegation looks at new ways to diversify the country’s economy.

A South Sudanese youth reportedly opens fire at a school in Northern Kenya, killing six people and wounding more than a dozen others; Former First Vice President Riek Machar fails to meet with members of the national dialogue steering committee for a second time; and residents in Bor call on elders to lower the price of dowry cattle.