South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, has known very little peace since a 2011 referendum created its independence from Sudan. Within a year of the country’s beginning, Sudan and South Sudan fought over their disputed border. At its birth South Sudan was also involved in intrastate conflicts as the new regime in Juba was challenged by two rebel groups (SSDM/A and SSLM/A). Fighting continues today in various forms, and South Sudan faces a grave humanitarian crisis with over 2 million people displaced.
At the end of 2013 the country plunged into civil war when long-simmering disputes exploded into a war between forces loyal to President Kiir who leads Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Army in Government (SPLM/A-IG), and those loyal to his former vice president Riek Machar who leads Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-In-Opposition (SPLM/A-IO). There was an ethnic dimension to the fighting, with Kiir belonging to South Sudan’s largest ethnic group, Dinka, and Machar emerging from the second largest group, Nuer. This competition quickly escalated into a violent conflict initiating the involvement of militias and other armed communities. However, seeing the violence from a purely ethnic perspective disregards the high complexity of ethnicity in this context, and some rebels fighting against Kiir were Dinka, whereas some rebels fighting within government ranks were Nuer. Fighting also concerns the orientation of political power and control over South Sudan’s vast oil resources.
Resource-driven conflicts exist independent of the civil war, with various ethnic groups fighting over arable land and cattle, and comprising largely of ambushes, looting, and large-scale abductions. Six out of every ten people in South Sudan own firearms, and armed groups and militias are intensifying ethnic violence against civilians. The country is also plagued by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), with several hundred people being abducted by the group.
Numerous failures to adhere to peace agreements have led to escalations in conflict and violence. The UN has voiced its concerns over potential ethnic cleansing and genocide, including systematic rape. There have also been allegations of the use of chemical weapons. This conflict has also led to a severe food crisis, with the WFP declaring over 75 percent of the country’s population – around 8.3 million people – facing severe food insecurity.
Peace attempts:
SPLM/A-IO and the government of President Kiir signed several ceasefire agreements in 2014, all of which were broken. The UN threatened sanctions and criticized both leaders for favoring a military solution – despite neither gaining ground.
In August 2015, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a major trade bloc in Africa, mediated peace talks between President Kiir and former Vice President Machar. On August 26, they both signed the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS), agreeing to form a Transitional Government of National Unity by April 2016. This was unsuccessful and the conflict continued between the two groups.
The UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) has been deployed in South Sudan since 2011, shifting efforts after the civil war from state-building to the protection of civilians. The peacekeeping forces faced numerous impediments to providing humanitarian aid in South Sudan and are still attempting to improve their efforts today.
In September 2018, with the aid of IGAD, Machar and Kiir met to sign another peace agreement: The Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). This entailed the development of a power-sharing government to include Machar’s reinstalment as Vice President and a united national army. While it found some success in developing a more unified army, including more stakeholders, and increasing humanitarian assistance, its formal implementation was delayed numerous times. In 2020, this agreement was finally put into action. Nevertheless, the new unity government suffers from ethnic factionalism and corruption, and the core reasons for the outbreak of civil war have yet to be adequately addressed.
