Time to put down the guns and return to the spirit of peace in South Sudan

As I landed in Juba airport on New Year's Day, hours before the call for a ceasefire, military reinforcements from the South Sudan army were being shipped north to try and retake the strategic town of Bor that had fallen to opposition forces.

While preliminary peace talks between the South Sudan government and opposition forces are a welcome development, the reality is that hostilities in the region still continue, and will do so for the foreseeable future.

Since fighting erupted in Juba on December 15th, violence has spread with alarming speed across at least seven of the 10 states of South Sudan. In the short time that I’ve been here, the official numbers displaced by violence has grown from 180,000 to more than 200,000 people. In excess of 75,000 people have sought refuge in UN peacekeeping bases in the country and the numbers are growing by the day. These numbers are certainly underestimated; thousands more have fled into the bush and into neighbouring areas, seeking refuge. The people who are displaced are highly vulnerable and while talks are good, the fighting must stop.

Regional leaders who had led mediation efforts have pushed for a ceasefire first, talks second. A ceasefire is an important step; it would allow humanitarian agencies to reach those most affected by the fighting. However, this hasn’t been delivered, and the talks that begin in Addis Ababa will be against a background of escalated violence.

The conflict that has now raged for more than two weeks has left at least 1,000 people dead. Much of the conflict has been near the regional oil reserves. Oil workers were evacuated, and production is down. The economy is being hit hard because oil revenue accounts for nearly 99 per cent of the government’s budget.

But the greatest problem is not the impact of this conflict on the economy. It is the extreme violence targeted at communities, the looting and destruction of homes and neighbourhoods. It’s the atmosphere of intimidation and coercion. It’s the devastating impact on the mothers, fathers and children who have been beaten or raped, and the impact on the families of those who have been killed.

Protracted war
This conflict is already seriously affecting extremely vulnerable subsistence farmers and cattle herders who have now lost their livelihoods. From what I've seen, those who will be

affected most are the families whose lives have been ripped apart, who have packed whatever meagre belongings they own and have fled their homes seeking shelter and safety.

All of this takes place in a country that is only just recovering from another prolonged war. South Sudan is the world’s newest state, and it’s only 30 months since it was formed in 2011, gaining independence from Sudan after decades of conflict. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and the voting for independence, promised southern Sudanese a reprieve from decades of war, which had led to South Sudan becoming one of the world’s poorest countries. Even before the recent violence, the country was trying to tackle extreme poverty and hunger, and help displaced families return to their homes after decades in refugee camps.

This week I visited Tomping, one of the UN compounds in Juba that is sheltering more than 16,000 people who fled their homes. The camp is already severely overcrowded, with more families reportedly arriving each day, fleeing the renewed clashes in and around Bor. Despite these squalid conditions, they have shelter, food, water and protection and, tough as it may sound, these are the fortunate ones.

Aid agencies that had to evacuate when the violence erupted are returning and scaling up to respond to this massive crisis. Others like Concern, who never left, are already distributing food and emergency relief supplies in the UN camps, while we wait for the fighting to cease in order to return to areas where thousands more families are in urgent need of assistance.

Food security
Helping people while the conflict rages is extremely dangerous for aid agency staff and poses huge problems in trying to deliver life-saving aid. In Unity State, one of the areas caught up in the struggle between government and opposition forces, Concern had recently established a food security and nutrition project helping mothers and children. We had to evacuate key staff to Juba when fighting broke out.

We are trying to get back to provide emergency assistance to those displaced by the conflict in the town of Bentiu and other areas. But reports confirm that it is still unsafe for our staff to return. So we wait, but not without extraordinary frustration. We know that every day we are not there is another day that 8,000 people displaced go without assistance.

Peace talks are critical. But there also needs to be pressure for a ceasefire. It is time for South Sudan’s leaders to return to the spirit and promises of freedom and peace made less than three years ago when the nation was born. It is time to put down the guns, allow life-saving assistance to be delivered, and clear the way for families to return home and continue rebuilding their lives and country, once again.

Dominic MacSorley is chief executive of Concern Worldwide