German Foreign Minister calls on South Sudanese parties to renounce violence

By Benjamin Takpiny

The German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock has called on South Sudanese parties to renounce violence in the electoral process and underlined that urgent progress by the Transitional Government is needed to ensure that free, fair and peaceful elections can be held in December 2024.

She also emphasized the pressing need for progress in the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement, greater transparency in the management of public finances, increased investment in basic services by the Transitional Government and the facilitation of safe and unhindered humanitarian access in South Sudan.

Baerbock visited South Sudan on January 26, 2024, where she met with President Salva Kiir Mayardit and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny, according to a statement issued by the German Embassy in Juba on Monday.

Her itinerary saw her also visit neighboring Kenya where she welcomed regional efforts to bring about an end to the conflict in Sudan.

Baerbock highlighted Germany’s support for increased pressure on the conflict parties in Sudan to agree to serious ceasefire negotiations at the highest level and pave the way for a political process with civilian actors, among them women and youth, at its core.

Baerbock opened UNHCR women’s friendly space at the Gorom refugee settlement.

She also condemned widespread sexual and gender-based violence experienced by women affected by the conflict in Sudan, and underlined Germany’s ongoing support to people in need and called for greater humanitarian engagement by the region.

“Even though other crises in the world are currently dominating the international agenda, particularly the situation in the Middle East, not a day goes by in Sudan, in South Sudan without thousands of people suffering massively. We are witnessing a terrible civil war in Sudan with hundreds of thousands of victims. 1,500 refugees from Sudan come here to South Sudan every day – to refugee camps that were already overcrowded. The refugee camp, where I am right now, was actually designed for 2,000 people. Now over 12,000 people live here,” Baerbock said.

More than 500,000 people have crossed into South Sudan from Sudan since outbreak of conflict on April 15 2023.

“Hundreds of thousands of women and children cross deserts, cover distances on foot that one can hardly walk, with next to nothing on their bodies, but many with incredible wounds, physical and mental wounds. Because the war in Sudan is, above all, a war against women. Sexual violence and rape are systematically used as a weapon of war. The women I just spoke to suffered the worst – they had to watch their daughters being raped in front of their eyes, they lost their children while fleeing. And then they arrived here in South Sudan and urgently need humanitarian support – water, food, but, above all, what everyone says above all, medical care,” Baerbock said.

She called for more humanitarian aid to Sudanese refugees and returnees especially the women and children.

Baerbock appealed to the states in the region, to the Gulf states, not to turn a blind eye to this humanitarian crisis unfolding in South Sudan.

“In addition to medical care, in addition to water supply, security is one of the central questions here on site, because women and children who have already been through the worst are only partially safe here. That’s why it is so important that with UNMISS there is a UN mission here on the ground that can provide the best possible protection around the refugee camps. But there is also an increasing need for protection in the refugee camps. That is why support for the local police is crucial,” she said.

“It is clear that this suffering can only end when the war in Sudan comes to an end. That is why I am here in South Sudan to explore with the different actors how to get not only the two generals to the negotiating table, but how especially the civilian population, against whom this war is being waged, and especially the women, against whom this war in Sudan is being waged, will be able to come to the negotiating table. The same applies to South Sudan here. Here too, the destabilization continues. That is why the order of the day here is that we limit the conflict, the conflicts that are bubbling up here in different regions, that we limit these conflicts as best as possible and ensure that there is no further crisis here in South Sudan,” Baerbock added.