Leaders of four East African Community (EAC) member nations have agreed to new measures for truck drivers, spurred by the coronavirus pandemic and the frequent crossing of regional borders. The presidents of Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and Kenya say they’re coordinating a plan to have drivers tested and certified at…
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres addressed the UN Security Council during the body’s first meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday, and urged members to understand the shocks that exacerbate conflict as well as the public health crisis impacts. “The world faces its gravest test since the founding of…
South Sudan’s leaders are moving forward on the path to peace but “the new government faces a daunting array of challenges that will test its unity,” said David Shearer, the United Nations representative, during updates delivered Wednesday to the UN Security Council. “Our actions can push South Sudan further towards…
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir announced on Friday that rival Riek Machar will again serve as vice president in a national unity government, just one day ahead of a deadline for establishing the agreement. Kiir read the decision to the nation days after he agreed to limit the number of…
The governments of Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States are urging South Sudanese leaders to move quickly to conclude their power-sharing peace agreement, ahead of a February 22 deadline. The troika nations said they stood in solidarity with the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) that mediates the…
Tibor Nagy, the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs for the United States, will begin a five-nation tour on the African continent on Wednesday. Nagy will visit the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Sudan during the two-week journey. The trip will highlight a U.S. commitment to African youth,…
The South Sudanese vice president placed under sanctions by the United States government for human rights abuses insisted on Thursday that he has been wrongfully accused. The targeted sanctions against Taban Deng Gai were announced earlier this week by the U.S. Dept. of Treasury, and follow similar sanctions against five…
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says three of its aid workers were killed earlier this week in South Sudan, where they were assisting with Ebola health screenings in the border area with Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. The three volunteers, two men and a woman, were caught in…
A delegation of the United Nations Security Council in South Sudan, meeting at the weekend with both President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar, warned that there are just three weeks left before a November 12 deadline to form their transitional unity government. The deal, brokered through the regional…
Participants in the three-day African Oil & Power conference, which runs through Friday in Cape Town, are showcasing African industry’s efforts to align with this year’s theme of “Make Energy Work.” Gwede Mantashe, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy in South Africa, served as keynote speaker on Thursday with…
The Mail & Guardian is one of South Africa’s most widely respected news organizations, but now it’s reporting that it’s been censored following a June 2019 investigation into an oil deal involving South Sudan and the man who arranged it. The publication was taken offline on Friday by Internet service…
In April, partner agencies Save the Children and UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, marked a milestone in South Sudan as they reached 6,000 children reunited with their families – families torn apart for years by the ongoing civil war and displacement. Now, they have a new digital tool to continue…
Sixteen human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and the Enough Project as well as regional African groups, have asked the United Nations Security Council to maintain the arms embargo and other sanctions in South Sudan while pressuring leaders to implement the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict…
The timeline has been extended for South Sudan’s leaders to navigate their way to a transitional government, according to the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The IGAD ministers from East African member nations announced Thursday that they’ve approved a six-month extension beyond Sunday’s deadline, in keeping with the recommendations…
Global executions fell by 31 percent last year, the lowest in a decade, but that trend didn’t entirely hold in countries across the African continent, according to a new report from Amnesty International. Five African Union member nations carried out known death-penalty executions last year, including Botswana, Egypt, Somalia, South…