Over the past year, political and military actors and agendas in South Sudan have increasingly fragmented, and the political process has stalled. These developments have undermined the security of civilians, the stability of the country, the humanitarian situation, and the viability of efforts to pursue sustainable peace. The population’s mistrust toward international actors has further curtailed the ability of the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) to implement its mandate. In anticipation…
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CSRF Research Repository
The CSRF Research Repository aims to support greater contextual knowledge for policy makers, programme managers, and implementers by providing a searchable repository of research, analysis, and resources, and providing periodic updates on new research and analysis.
This policy paper evaluates the prospects of peace in South Sudan within the context of the recently proposed revitalization process of the 2015 political pact. The paper broadly argues that the revitalization process is important, but it must contend with factors that led to the collapse of the original agreement. Highlighting this, the brief discusses how the design of the security arrangements and transitional justice mechanisms in the ARCSS might have led to the faltering…
South Sudan has been at the heart of a relentless civil war for more than 30 years, but its ongoing violence has recently reached a level of unprecedented severity. As armed insurgents continue to clash with the government’s military forces, thousands of civilians have lost their lives and millions remain displaced. Earlier this year, the country experienced a devastating and widespread famine that threatened to starve more than 100,000 people. Even now, as the country…
Humanitarian or development assistance delivered in complex, highly contested and conflict-affected contexts such as South Sudan will inevitably impact on conflict dynamics. These may be positive or negative, direct or indirect, intentional or unintended. Conflict sensitivity is an approach that helps humanitarian and development actors maximise the potential positive, and minimise any potential negative impacts of their interventions on conflict. This document provides context-specific guidance on conflict sensitivity for agencies operating in South Sudan.
Governments in South Sudan have long built their authority on their ability to fashion changing regimes of revenge and compensation, war and peace. Governments’ capture of these regimes has resulted in the secularisation of compensation despite the ongoing spiritual consequences of lethal violence. This article explores these issues by focusing on the western Dinka of Greater Gogrial. In recent years, they have been closely linked to the highest levels of government through familial networks and…
On October 25th, 2017, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, visited Juba, South Sudan, as part of the first most high-profile tour of Africa by a senior US official since Donald J. Trump became President of the United States of America. The visit covered Ethiopia, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The visit was highly anticipated because it is thought as offering the first opportunity for the Trump Administration…
Sudan from which South Sudan split in 2011 has been known for its years of political and social upheaval since the end of the British colonial rule. The two countries are intimately linked to one another by their history that anyone writing about what has become known as the Sudans cannot hope to provide a meaningful context without reference to that shared past. This is what the author has done in this volume of his…
This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state of South Sudan. A main argument is that its political economy is fundamentally atypical: achieving independence in 2011 and dissolving into renewed civil war in 2013, South Sudan is suffering the crisis of a weak, neo-patrimonial guerrilla government, with fragmented military-political systems that stretch across its extensive borderlands. This report locates the current crisis within a longer and deeper context, and explores the power dynamics…
This study follows on from an earlier Small Arms Survey paper by the author (Young, 2015). It begins where the earlier paper left off with the signing of the ARCSS and ends with the first anniversary of the agreement’s collapse in July 2017. Like the earlier study, this research is based on many visits by the author and his assistant to Juba, Greater Upper Nile, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Sudan to carry out interviews with…
This report documents a complex multi-million dollar arms deal involving entities in the UK, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates. While outlining the obligations of Ukraine and UAE to prevent irresponsible arms transfers, the report focuses on the role of a UK ‘front’ or ‘shell’ company, whose name was found on contract documents and an end user certificate. Any involvement of a UK-registered company in arms transfers to South Sudan would be in breach of…
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