The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Violence in South Sudan engulfs much of country, violations rife
Extreme violence and attacks involving thousands of fighters at a time have engulfed more than three-quarters of South Sudan, UN human Rights Council-appointed investigators said on Friday, warning that the bloodshed and exactions faced by civilians are “the worst recorded” since the country’s civil war began in December 2013.
Highlighting a continuing lack of local and national State infrastructure almost a year since the formation of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity in South Sudan, Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan Chairperson Yasmin Sooka noted that although the signing of the Revitalized Peace Agreement two years ago had “led to a reduction in hostilities at the national level”…the country seen “a massive escalation in violence” locally.
Echoing that finding, Commission member Barney Afako explained that signing the cessation of hostilities ceasefire had left “a vacuum” at community level. “Because the parties of the conflict, although they’d signed the agreement, didn’t then go on to set up localized governments. There are no governors in place or no county commissioners in place. So, there is nobody to deal with those cleavages which had remained. Instead what we saw, was that the weaponry that have been left in the community as well as that which is now supplied by others fuelled this communal violence.”
Other worrying developments include restrictions and self-censorship among journalists and pressure groups.
“The level of State suppression and inability of civil society or journalists to operate is now completely different,” said Commission member Andrew Clapham. “There is sort of levels of fear and the State suppression and the fact that you can be picked up and tortured and killed is rather different.”
In its latest report, the Commission describes “waves of attacks and reprisals” that have left hundreds of South Sudanese women, men and children dead, maimed or destitute in Jonglei State and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area.
Ms. Sooka told journalists via video conference that the armed groups and militias had mobilised along ethnic lines, often with the support of armed State and opposition forces.
She highlighted clashes between allied Dinka and Nuer militias and Murle pastoralist militias in central and southern Jonglei State and Greater Pibor Administrative Area between February and November 2020.
These involved massive violations against civilians including the killing and displacement of hundreds.
“We have documented the new levels of militia violence engulfing more than three-quarters of the country at a localized level in which children carry weapons and women are traded as spoils of war like chattels,” Ms. Sooka said, while highlighting the ready availability of weapons, which is indicative of outside assistance.
“Civilians describe combatants using new weapons which they had never seen before,” she said. “One man told the Commission, ‘I went to Pibor town and I saw guns being sold there. There the black guns used by the NSS were being sold for 25,000 South Sudanese shillings, each less than a few hundred dollars.’ He also said that children all have guns.”
The Commission Chairperson also described as “shocking” the extremely high number of fighters involved in the localized conflicts, with “up to 50,000” involved in one attack in Padoi in Jonglei State and at least 15,000 fighters in an attack against Likuangole village, also in Jonglei State”.
Women were traded as “spoils of war” and children carry weapons, Ms. Sooka continued, adding that levels of violence “have already surpassed (those) documented in December 2013”, when civil war erupted across South Sudan.
Describing further graphic attacks in Jonglei and the Greater Pibor area, she noted that homes were “systemically and deliberately torched, murders and forced displacements have been perpetrated, women and girls have been abducted, they have been raped and gang-raped, sexually enslaved and in some instances forcibly married off to their captors. Abducted boys have been forced to fight and, in some instances, forcibly assimilated into rival armed groups.”
These victims have had their ethnic and other identities “completely erased”, according to the Commission’s report, which noted that as of December 2020, hundreds of abductees were still missing, with hundreds of thousands displaced by the violence and recurrent flooding.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP) this year’s flash floods have affected more than one million people across eastern and central regions, submerging homes, farmlands and livestock.
The Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan is due to present its report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 10 March.
ends
1. SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Sooka, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan: “On Monday, it will be one year since the formation of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity in South Sudan. While the signing of the Revitalized Peace Agreement has led to a reduction in hostilities at the national level for the second year in a row, South Sudan at the same time has witnessed a massive escalation in violence perpetrated at a localized level.”
2. Medium shot, destroyed van in the centre of Nyandit, South Sudan (World Food Programme footage).
3. Medium shot, destroyed van in the centre of Nyandit, side shot, South Sudan (World Food Programme footage).
4. SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Sooka, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan: “We have documented the new levels of militia violence engulfing more than three-quarters of the country at a localized level in which children carry weapons and women are traded as spoils of war like chattels.”
5. Medium shot, mothers with children waiting to receive nutrition testing, South Sudan. (World Food Programme footage).
6. SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Sooka, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan: “Levels of violence have already surpassed the levels documented in December 2013 when the civil war broke out in South Sudan.”
7. Medium shot, men sitting in a tent, South Sudan. (World Food Programme footage).
8. SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Sooka, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan: “In Jonglei and the Greater Pibor area, homes have been systemically and deliberately torched, murders and forced displacements have been perpetrated, women and girls have been abducted, they have been raped and gang-raped, sexually enslaved and in some instances forcibly married off to their captors. Abducted boys have been forced to fight and, in some instances, forcibly assimilated into rival armed groups.”
9. Wide shot, dead animal in foreground and people walking to rear, South Sudan. (World Food Programme footage).
10. Medium shot, dead animal lying on the ground, South Sudan.
11. SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Sooka, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan: “The sheer number of fighters involved in these localized conflicts is also shocking: up to 50,000 fighters took part in one attack, in Padoi in Jonglei State and at least 15,000 fighters in an attack against Likuangole village, also in Jonglei State.”
12. Medium shot, child sitting, being checked for malnutrition. (World Food Programme footage).
13. Close-up, malnutrition measuring tape on the children’s arm. (World Food Programme footage).
14. SOUNDBITE (English) — Yasmin Sooka, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan: “Civilians describe combatants using new weapons which they had never seen before. One man told the Commission, ‘I went to Pibor town and I saw guns being sold there.’ There the black guns used by the NSS were being sold for 25,000 South Sudanese shillings, each less than a few hundred dollars. He also said that children all have guns.”
15. Wide shot, WFP plane dropping food.
16. Wide shot, food landing on the ground.
17. Wide shot, plane flying.
18. Medium shot, people carrying bags.
19. SOUNDBITE (English) — Andrew Clapham, Member of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan: “The level of State suppression and inability of civil society or journalists to operate is now completely different. There is sort of levels of fear and the State suppression and the fact that you can be picked up and tortured and killed is rather different.”
20. Medium shot, WFP bag in foreground and woman using a mortar to rear.
21. SOUNDBITE (English) — Barney Afako, Member of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan: “By signing the cessation of hostilities ceasefire, this left a vacuum in the communities because, because the parties of the conflict although they’d signed the agreement didn’t then go on to set up localized governments. There are no governors in place or no county commissioners in place. So, there is nobody to deal with those cleavages which had remained. Instead what we saw, was that the weaponry that have been left in the community as well as that which is now supplied by others fuelled this communal violence.”
22. Close-up, crushing seeds in a mortar.
23. Medium shot, woman preparing a meal for her children with WFP ration received.
24. Medium shot, woman eating with three children.
25. Medium shot, children eating.
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
Damaged roads, disrupted services and renewed military activity are putting civilians at risk in south Lebanon, UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) warns.
The UN peacekeeping mission is urging restraint and renewed political engagement to prevent further escalation.
1
1
1
Edited News | ICRC , UNODA
Amid unconfirmed reports that fully autonomous and AI-guided drones are now being used on the battlefield, UN chief António Guterres and the President of the Red Cross on Tuesday renewed their urgent call for stricter controls, before it is too late.