By Black Star News
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
At a Monday United Nations Security Council meeting, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, Martha Pobee, gave a grave update on the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in South Sudan.
Pobee told the Security Council, that, since March, all the previous gains working toward peace have been lost. Military assaults, particularly involving the White Army militia, are continuing. The White Army militia is primarily composed of the Niolitic Neur ethnic group, who are said to be possibly connected to Vice-President Riek Machar, (above middle).
Matchar, a Neur, was arrested, in March of 2025, and accused on charges of allegedly plotting a rebellion and agitating for a civil war. Matchar, along with his wife, Angelina Teny,the country’ interior minister, were placed on house arrest. Matchar was also accused of trying to prevent the country’s elections next year, which is scheduled to be held on December 22, 2026.
Before his arrest, Machar had wrote an open letter condemning the deployment of Ugandan army troops in South Sudan. On March 11, Uganda deployed soldiers, from the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF), into Juba, the capital of South Sudan to help South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit (above left).
The conflict in South Sudan has hampered the flow of oil to the military government’s control of Port Sudan. This is causing South Sudan to lose important oil revenues. The conflict is, in part, driven by the use, by political elites, of inflaming ethnic identities for political and economic gain.
South Sudan is having one of its worst humanitarian crises since independence in 2011. Some 9.3 million people are said to be in need of immediate assistance, with another 7.7 million suffering from food insecurity. Pobee pointed out that funding cuts are leaving millions with out necessary life-saving assistance.
In speaking, on the 2026 election, Pobee said, “While government officials have publicly expressed their commitment to elections by December 2026, the Parties must take steps to return to dialogue and make the necessary decisions to move the country forward. Declarations of commitment are not enough.”
Pobee asked the Security Council to call on the opposing factions in South Sudan to honor the peace agreement because she said, “The people of South Sudan are counting on us.”
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