UN
North Korean leader’s sister vows 2nd attempt to launch spy satellite, slams UN meeting
The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed again Sunday to push for a second attempt to launch a spy satellite as she lambasted a U.N. Security Council meeting over the North's first, failed launch.
The North's attempt to put its first military spy satellite into orbit last Wednesday failed as its rocket crashed off the Korean Peninsula's western coast. An emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council was still convened at the request of the U.S., Japan and other countries to discuss the launch because it had violated council resolutions banning the North from performing any launch using ballistic technology.
On Sunday, Kim's sister and senior ruling party official, Kim Yo Jong, called the U.N. council "a political appendage" of the United States, saying its recent meeting was convened following America's "gangster-like request."
She accused the U.N. council of being "discriminative and rude" because it only takes issue with the North's satellite launches while thousands of satellites launched by other countries are already operating in space. She said her country's attempt to acquire a spy satellite is a legitimate step to respond to military threats posed by the U.S. and its allies.
"(North Korea) will continue to take proactive measures to exercise all the lawful rights of a sovereign state, including the one to a military reconnaissance satellite launch," Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media.
In her earlier statement Friday, Kim Yo Jong said the North's spy satellite "will be correctly put on space orbit in the near future" but didn't say when its second launch attempt would take place.
South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Wednesday it will likely take "more than several weeks" for North Korea to learn the cause of the failed launch but it may attempt a second launch soon if defects aren't serious.
Washington, Seoul and others criticized the North's satellite launch for raising international tensions and urged it to return to talks.
A military surveillance satellite is among a list of sophisticated weapons systems that Kim Jong Un has vowed to acquire amid protracted security tensions with the United States. Since the start of 2022, Kim has carried out more than 100 missile tests in what he called a warning over expanded military drills between the U.S. and South Korea.
Experts say Kim would want to use his modernized weapons arsenal to wrest concessions from Washington and its partners in future diplomacy.
North Korea was slapped with rounds of U.N. sanctions over its past nuclear and missile tests and satellite launches. But the U.N. Security Council failed to toughen those sanctions over North Korea's recent testing activities because China and Russia, both permanent members of the U.N. council, blocked the U.S. and others' attempts to do so. During the latest U.N. council session Friday, China and Russia again clashed with the U.S. over the North's failed launch.
After repeated failures, North Korea placed Earth-observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, but foreign experts say there is no evidence that either satellite transmitted imagery and other data.
Also Sunday, North Korea threatened not to notify the International Maritime Organization of future satellite launches in advance to protest the group's condemnation of North Korean missile tests.
The IMO's maritime safety committee on Wednesday adopted a rare resolution denouncing North Korea for conducting launches without proper notification that "seriously threatened the safety of seafarers and international shipping."
Kim Myong Chol, an international affairs analyst in North Korea, said in a statement carried by state media: "In the future, IMO should know and take measures by itself over the period of (North Korea's) satellite launch and the impact point of its carrier and be prepared to take full responsibility for all the consequences from it."
Ahead of its recent spy satellite launch, North Korea told the IMO and Japan that a launch would occur between May 31 and June 11.
Demand for global recognition of 1971 genocide included by UN
The UN Human Rights Council has included the demand for international recognition of genocide committed by the Pakistani military forces and their collaborators against the Bangalis during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
The demand is included as agenda item 3 of the UN Human Rights Council’s 53rd session scheduled for June 19- July 14.
Read more: Researchers, scholars urged to present facts of Bangladesh genocide before global community
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received the written statement issued by the Bangladeshi diaspora organisation, Stichting BASUG (Bangladesh Support Group) with Special Consultative Status of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN along with pro-liberation organisations seeking to establish a secular Bangladesh -- Aamra Ekattor, Projonmo '71, European Bangladesh Forum, and Seraji Foundation.
The statement, which reiterated their demand for the “International Recognition of the 1971 genocide”, was circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolution 1996/31 on 29 May.
Read more: West must recognize 1971 genocide Pakistan army committed in Bangladesh: Shahriar Alam
UN agencies face funding challenges in feeding Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, official says
Bangladesh should not bear the burden of more than 1 million Rohingya refugees alone while U.N. agencies are facing challenges to feed them, a United Nations official said Monday.
Olivier De Schutter, a U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, made the statement at the end of a 12-day trip to Bangladesh, where he visited camps sheltering the refugees from Myanmar. He said the international response to meet the funds needed to support the refugees is "grossly insufficient."
About $876 million is needed to support the community for a year, but only 17% of that has been pledged to date, he said, calling it "scandalous" at a news conference in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka.
"Bangladesh should not be left to shoulder the burden of the presence of the refugees on its own. These (U.N.) agencies should be much better supported in their work," De Schutter said.
He said the World Food Program was forced in May to reduce the value of the monthly food vouchers it gives to each refugee from $12 to $10. It will be reduced further to $8 on June 1, he said.
"In a context in which food inflation this year was about 8%, that means that in the camps, children are undernourished," De Schutter said. "The rates of malnutrition will increase. The rates of stunting will increase. The development of the child in that context will be endangered."
Bangladesh has sheltered more than 1 million refugees as the Muslim Rohingya face widespread discrimination in the Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where most are denied citizenship and other rights.
More than 700,000 fled to Bangladesh starting in late August 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a "clearance operation" against them following attacks by a rebel group. The safety situation in Myanmar has worsened following the military takeover two years ago.
Bangladesh is currently working with China to start repatriation of the Rohingya to Myanmar as a pilot case. The U.N. said earlier that they were aware of such a move but were not part of it.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she would not force any refugees to move to Myanmar.
UN: Sudan conflict displaces over 1.3 million, including some 320K to neighboring countries
The fighting between Sudan’s military and a powerful paramilitary force has displaced more than 1.3 million people, the U.N. migration agency said Wednesday.
The International Organization for Migration said the clashes have forced over 1 million people to leave their homes to safer areas inside Sudan. Some 320,000 others have fled to the neighboring countries of Egypt, South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, the Central African Republic and Libya.
The fighting erupted on April 15 after months of escalating tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. The conflict derailed Sudanese hopes of restoring the country's fragile transition to democracy, which was disrupted by a military coup led by the two generals in October 2021.
The conflict has killed at least 863 civilians, including at least 190 children, and wounded more than 3,530 others, according to the most recent numbers from the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate — which mainly tracks civilian casualties. It has also pushed the East African country to near collapse, with urban areas in the capital, Khartoum, and its neighboring city of Omdurman turning into battlegrounds.
Also read: Sudan military chief freezes bank accounts of rival armed group in battle for control of the nation
Egypt is hosting the largest number of those who fled, with at least 132,360 people, followed by Chad with 80,000 and South Sudan with over 69,000, the agency added.
All but one of Sudan’s 18 provinces experienced displacement, with Khartoum at the top of the list with around 70% of the total number of displaced people, according to the IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix.
Sporadic fighting continued Wednesday in several areas, despite a cease-fire reached this week. Residents reported hearing gunshots and explosions in central Khartoum as well as areas close to military facilities in Omdurman.
Both sides in the conflict Wednesday traded blame for violating the cease-fire.
The weeklong cease-fire, which was brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia, took effect Monday night. It was the latest international effort to push for humanitarian aid delivery to the conflict-torn country.
A joint statement from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia late Tuesday warned that neither the Sudanese military nor the Rapid Support Forces observed the short-term cease-fire.
“The Sudanese people continue to suffer as a result of this devastating conflict," the statement said. It called on both sides to “fully abide by their commitments" and to implement the temporary cease-fire to deliver urgently needed humanitarian relief.
Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cautioned both parties of possible sanctions if the latest cease-fire was not adhered to.
But on Wednesday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington that the cease-fire has largely been holding, despite reports of sporadic fire in Khartoum and elsewhere.
“Ultimately, it’s of course up to the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to implement this thing.” Kirby said. “But in general, in the main, it appears to be holding. I want to caution you though, this is early, I mean, just went into effect yesterday afternoon. We have seen this movie before. So, we’re being pretty pragmatic as we look at it.”
The fighting has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian conditions in Sudan. According to the U.N., the number of people who need assistance this year has increased by 57% to reach 24.7 million people, more than half the country’s population. The international body said it would need $2.6 billion to provide them with much-needed humanitarian assistance.
The U.N. special envoy for sexual violence Pramila Patten, meanwhile, said Wednesday she is “is gravely concerned” about reports of sexual attacks against women.
“There are strong indications that it is parties to the conflict who have committed sexual violence, including rape, against women and girls,” she said in a statement.
She said many of the sexual attacks apparently took place in residential areas in Khartoum, or while they were fleeing the fighting in the capital.
Other attacks on women also took place in the western region of Darfur, where sexual violence against women has been consistently reported over the past two decades, she said.
She called for investigations into the allegations and urged all parties to take immediate measures against suspects, including suspending or removing them from the ranks.
Dhaka seeks global support in pilot Rohingya repatriation project
Bangladesh has urged the United Nations, ASEAN and regional countries to support the pilot repatriation project and help Rohingya returnees reintegrate in Myanmar.
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith, made the call while speaking at the Security Council‘s Arria-formula meeting on Myanmar.
The meeting convened by the United Kingdom was held at the United Nations Headquarters on Friday (May 19, 2023).
Referring to the recent dialogue between Bangladesh and Myanmar, Ambassador Muhith informed the Security Council that the two sides have decided to undertake a pilot repatriation project under which a group of verified Myanmar nationals will return to their country of origin in the first batch.
Read more: China "unswervingly mediating" between Bangladesh, Myanmar to promote Rohingya repatriation: Ambassador Yao
The repatriation will continue and additional Rohingyas will be repatriated in successive batches.
He further informed that a group of 20 Rohingya visited Rakhine State on May 5, 2023 to see arrangements made in Myanmar for their return.
Citing the pilot project as an important step in the right direction, the Permanent Representative said that Bangladesh is taking all measures to ensure the voluntary return of the Rohingyas in family units. Ambassador Muhith called upon the international community to remain vigilant so that the returnees under pilot project are not exposed to further persecution.
“The presence of humanitarian and development actors in the Rakhine will act as an important confidence building measure. We also urge the regional countries to support the returnees and help them reintegrate in Myanmar society,” he added.
Read more: Rohingyas not bothered about facilities, their demand centres citizenship
The meeting held in the in-person format was attended by all Security Council members and a large number of member states from the ASEAN.
The Security Council members discussed the current humanitarian challenges in Myanmar including in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha.
They also expressed support for the efforts of ASEAN in addressing the multifaceted challenges of Myanmar.
On the Rohingya issue, the majority of the members expressed support for the safe, voluntary, sustainable and dignified return of the Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar, while calling upon Myanmar to improve the condition in Rakhine.
Read more: UNHCR ‘not involved’ in discussions on Bangladesh-Myanmar pilot project on Rohingya repatriation
Community clinics model: UN adopts resolution highlighting Sheikh Hasina initiative
The United Nations has unanimously adopted the first-ever resolution on community-based health care.
The resolution, titled “Community-based primary health care: a participatory and inclusive approach to universal health coverage,” acknowledged the important role community clinics play in promoting primary health care, women’s empowerment, community engagement and mobilization towards achieving universal access to health.
The resolution, in recognition of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s stellar contribution in establishing model community clinics in Bangladesh, highlighted “the Sheikh Hasina Initiative” as an exemplary innovative model of public-private partnership, said the government.
Read More: Bangladesh has achieved great progress in healthcare, health minister tells conference in Japan.
By introducing the “Community Clinic Model of Bangladesh’, the resolution asks member states to explore measures to scale up and reference best practices to benefit from successful national experience.
It reflects Bangladesh’s commitment to improve health and well-being of its citizens and to contributing to global health equity.
The Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith introduced the resolution in the General Assembly.
Read More: PM Hasina urges rich countries to ensure universal healthcare for all
The resolution, the first of its kind in the United Nations or the World Health Organization, was co-sponsored by 70 countries.
Ambassador Muhith highlighted the impact of this resolution on achieving universal health coverage through inclusive community-based primary health care. Referring to today’s adoption of the resolution as a watershed moment in global efforts for universal and equitable access to health for all, he said that implementation of the resolution can make a world of difference to the lives of billions and their families and communities around the world.
“It has a far-reaching impact in promoting international cooperation for universal health coverage as it invites international financial institutions, multilateral and regional development banks and donors to provide appropriate resources, especially for developing countries, to strengthen community-based health services towards the full implementation of the SDGs,” he added.
Also read: Make medication available in community clinics to combat hypertension: Experts
To bring all people of Bangladesh under primary health care coverage, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina introduced this unique community clinic model in Bangladesh in 1998 which has revolutionized the health care delivery to reach the doorsteps of people all over the country, particularly those in under-served areas and hard-to-reach populations.
Climate Change: Leaders gather at annual UN policy forum in Bangkok to tackle the most daunting threat
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) opened its 79th session in Bangkok on Monday with global and regional leaders calling for urgent action to combat climate change and its dire impacts.
They urged countries in the region to meet their nationally determined contributions, intensify development of climate-sensitive technology, nurture policy environments supporting both industrial diversification and low-emission transport, as well as increase investments in renewable energy infrastructure.
“Asia and the Pacific can set the pace of climate action in the decades to come. Most countries in the region have already pledged carbon neutrality goals towards mid-century. But we need to accelerate action, with steep reductions in emissions within the next few years,” said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his opening message.
Also Read: PM Hasina: Climate-induced disasters may disrupt Bangladesh’s smooth LDC graduation
Climate change poses major challenges to all strands of sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.
The region includes 13 of the 30 countries most vulnerable to climate impacts and without concerted action, it could see an additional 7.5 million people fall into poverty by 2030.
“Each one of us and every aspect of our world is being affected. Those who are most exposed and have the fewest resources to respond to climate change, however, are the most vulnerable,” said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.
She added that the integrated nature of climate change calls for holistic, multisectoral solutions as well as targeted support.
Fekitamoeloa Katoa ʻUtoikamanu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Tourism of Tonga who was elected Chair of the 79th session, underscored that inclusive intergovernmental platforms such as ESCAP are a lifeline for the Pacific. “While the Pacific small island developing states contribute less than 0.03 percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, they are amongst the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In this regard, ESCAP is an important platform to advocate for regional and global action to achieve their climate goals.”
“The IPCC clearly demonstrates that the lower the emissions in 2030, the lower the challenge in limiting global warming to 1.5°C after 2030. Integrated planning, coherent policies, and economic stimulus investments designed to meet both the Sustainable Development Goals and climate challenges can generate significant co-benefits and speed up progress,” said Lachezara Stoeva, President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
“We used to say that the choices we make will define the future for the generations after us. Now we have to say that the choices we make will decide whether there will be a future for the generations after us,” shared Csaba Kőrösi, President of the United Nations General Assembly. He added, “We are not lacking in ideas and plans; it is high time we realized them.”
Heads of states and governments from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mongolia, Palau, the Philippines, Samoa, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu and the Cook Islands also addressed the opening session.
While voicing grave concerns about the complexities and growing threats of climate change on sustainable development, they expressed their optimism for shared solidarity and cooperation towards building a resilient, sustainable and prosperous future for all.
More than 880 participants from 61 member States, associate members and permanent observers as well as representatives from academia, international organizations, youth, business and civil society are attending the session this week.
It is expected to culminate on Friday with the adoption of ten resolutions covering, among others, recommendations for accelerated climate action, ocean protection, environmental protection, disaster risk reduction, supporting countries in special situations, promoting digital cooperation and inclusion, the use of space applications for sustainable development, advancing sustainable urban development and launching a new decade of persons with disabilities.
Bangladesh has made remarkable gains in poverty reduction in recent years: UN expert
UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Olivier De Schutter will visit Bangladesh from May 17 to 29, 2023 to examine the government’s efforts to eradicate poverty.
“Bangladesh has made remarkable gains in poverty reduction over recent years, yet important questions remain around how to maintain this progress and ensure all parts of the population benefit equally,” said De Schutter, an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor, report, and advise on poverty and human rights around the world.
“My visit will be an opportunity to hear and learn more and provide recommendations to the government on how it can continue to support people out of poverty and ensure the right to an adequate standard of living for all in the face of economic and climate-induced shocks,” he said.
During the visit, the UN expert will travel to Dhaka, Rangpur division and Cox’s Bazar, where he will meet with national and local government officials, individuals and communities affected by poverty, and representatives from civil society.
Read more: Many countries can learn from Bangladesh’s approaches to reducing poverty, empowering women, adapting to climate change: WB President
In addition to investigating the effectiveness of social security programmes, De Schutter will examine the impact of Bangladesh's labour laws, healthcare, housing, and education systems on poverty.
He will also assess the situation of groups disproportionately affected by poverty, including women, children, people with disabilities, and older persons, as well as garment factory workers and Rohingya refugees.
De Schutter will present his preliminary observations and recommendations at a press conference in Dhaka on May 29.
The Special Rapporteur will present his final report on the visit to the UN Human Rights Council in June.
UN urges Afghanistan’s Taliban to end floggings, executions
A U.N. report on Monday strongly criticized the Taliban for carrying out public executions, lashings and stonings since seizing power in Afghanistan, and called on the country's rulers to halt such practices.
In the past six months alone, 274 men, 58 women and two boys were publicly flogged in Afghanistan, according to a report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA.
“Corporal punishment is a violation of the Convention against Torture and must cease,” said Fiona Frazer, the agency's human rights chief. She also called for an immediate moratorium on executions.
The Taliban foreign ministry said in response that Afghanistan’s laws are determined in accordance with Islamic rules and guidelines, and that an overwhelming majority of Afghans follow those rules.
“In the event of a conflict between international human rights law and Islamic law, the government is obliged to follow the Islamic law,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Taliban began carrying out such punishments shortly after coming to power almost two years ago, despite initial promises of a more moderate rule than during their previous stint in power in the 1990s.
At the same time, they have gradually tightened restrictions on women, barring them from public spaces, such as parks and gyms, in line with their interpretation of Islamic law. The restrictions have triggered an international uproar, increasing the country’s isolation at a time when its economy has collapsed — and worsening a humanitarian crisis.
Monday's report on corporal punishment documents Taliban practices both before and after their return to power in August 2021, when they seized the capital of Kabul as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew after two decades of war.
The first public flogging following the Taliban takeover was reported in October 2021 in the northern Kapisa province, the report said. In that case, a woman and man convicted of adultery were publicly lashed 100 times each in the presence of religious scholars and local Taliban authorities, it said.
In December 2022, Taliban authorities executed an Afghan convicted of murder, the first public execution since they took power the report said.
The execution, carried out with an assault rifle by the victim’s father, took place in the western Farah province before hundreds of spectators and top Taliban officials.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the top government spokesman, said the decision to carry out the punishment was “made very carefully," following approval by three of the country’s highest courts and the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada.
There has been a significant increase in the number and regularity of judicial corporal punishment since November when Mujahid repeated comments by the supreme leader about judges and their use of Islamic law in a tweet, the report said.
Since that tweet, UNAMA documented at least 43 instances of public lashings involving 274 men, 58 women and two boys. A majority of punishments were related to convictions of adultery and “running away from home," the report said. Other purported offenses included theft, homosexuality, consuming alcohol, fraud and drug trafficking.
In a video message, Abdul Malik Haqqani, the Taliban’s appointed deputy chief justice, said last week that the Taliban’s Supreme Court has issued 175 so-called retribution verdicts since taking power, including 79 floggings and 37 stonings.
Such verdicts establish the right of a purported victim, or relative of a victim of a crime to punish or forgive the perpetrator. Haqqani said the Taliban leadership is committed to carrying out such sentences.
After their initial overthrow in the U.S. invasion of 2001, the Taliban continued to carry out corporal punishment and executions in areas under their control while waging an insurgency against the U.S.-backed former Afghan government, the report said.
UNAMA documented at least 182 instances when the Taliban carried out their own sentences during the height of their insurgency between 2010 and August 2021, resulting in 213 deaths and 64 injuries.
Many Muslim-majority countries draw on Islamic law, but the Taliban interpretation is an outlier.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called a Taliban ban on women working an unacceptable violation of Afghan human rights.
On April 5, Afghanistan's Taliban rulers informed the United Nations that Afghan women employed with the U.N. mission could no longer report for work. Aid agencies have warned that the ban on women working will impact their ability to deliver urgent humanitarian help in Afghanistan.
The Taliban previously banned girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade and women from most public life and work. In December, they banned Afghan women from working at local and non-governmental groups — a measure that at the time did not extend to U.N. offices.
Under the first Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001, public corporal punishment and executions were carried out by officials against individuals convicted of crimes, often in large venues such as sports stadiums and at urban intersections.
UN: South Sudan struggling to implement power-sharing deal
South Sudan is facing violent clashes and increasing disillusionment and frustration as it struggles to implement the most challenging provisions of a fragile 2018 power-sharing agreement, U.N. experts say in a new report.
The world's newest nation is struggling to integrate rival military forces, draft a new constitution and prepare for its first election as an independent country in December 2024, the experts monitoring sanctions against the world’s newest nation said in a report to the U.N. Security Council obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
The country's stability “will likely turn on the government’s ability to reward the patience of those who remain committed to peace, rather than those who have sought to reshape it through violence," the report says.
There were high hopes when oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long conflict. But the country slid into a civil war in December 2013 largely based on ethnic divisions when forces loyal to the current president, Salva Kiir, battled those loyal to the current vice president, Riek Machar.
Tens of thousands of people were killed in the war, which ended with the 2018 peace agreement, bringing Kiir and Machar together in a government of national unity. Under the agreement, elections were supposed to be held in February 2023, but last August they were postponed until December 2024.
Kiir said he wanted to avoid creating conditions for more bloodshed. He issued a statement outlining the government’s achievements and stressing that it would be “business as usual” before the elections.
Also read: 675 Bangladeshis reach Port Sudan to leave crisis-hit Sudan: Shahriar Alam
The U.N. experts said the message was aimed at allaying two concerns — that the extension would be used to undermine the fragile power-sharing structures and would mean further delays, “not the progress that peace once promised.”
On the plus side, the panel said in the 37-page report that the unity government has survived, a series of laws have started to pave the way for the drafting of a new constitution, and a first batch of approximately 55,000 unified troops has graduated, even though most haven’t been deployed.
On the negative side, the experts said, most troops that graduated remain around their training centers, “though poor conditions have led to hundreds of deaths and thousands of desertions.” Many graduates don’t receive regular salaries, and most work in local communities to make money, the experts said.
Those that have been deployed appear to have joined pre-existing military units rather than becoming part of a new national force, they said. While the parties agreed last year to unify the top command structure, they have not been able to reach a similar agreement for the lower ranks.
South Sudan is also facing its highest level of displacement since the peace agreement, and more than two-thirds of the population needs humanitarian assistance, the panel said.
The experts said most South Sudanese have not seen “tangible progress” since the 2018 agreement was signed.
The deteriorating humanitarian situation is partly the result of violence and serious clashes in most parts of the country between well-armed rival forces, leading to deaths, people fleeing their homes, serious human rights violations, including sexual attacks, and difficulties delivering aid, the panel said.
Much of the violence results from efforts to weaken opponents, but increasingly “from growing dissatisfaction with the political process in Juba," the capital.
Oil accounts for more than 90% of the government’s revenue and almost all its exports, and as a result of the high oil price the government is likely to exceed its budget target of $1.6 billion in gross oil revenues for the current fiscal year, the experts said, but the money has largely failed to reach institutions that could help stabilize the country.
“The misappropriation and diversion of public resources not only continues to fuel political competition but also deprives the treasury of the resources needed to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis, fund the implementation of the peace agreement, and stabilize the country through regular salary payments and development,” the panel said.