NEW YORK – The United States has voiced strong dismay over South Sudan’s failure to deliver on its peace commitments, with Washington accusing the country’s leaders of abandoning the 2018 peace agreement and plunging the population into deeper suffering.
Speaking at a United Nations Security Council briefing on South Sudan, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Shea, said it was “deeply disappointing” that after years of international support, the transitional government in Juba has failed to ensure peace, stability, and basic governance for its citizens.
“Despite significant international efforts to support South Sudan’s post-conflict recovery, stabilisation, and reconstruction, South Sudan’s leaders have failed to demonstrate the political will to meet their commitments,” Shea told the Council. She cited unfulfilled pledges on unifying armed forces, transparent management of public resources, expanding civic space, and ending violence as a political tool.
According to Shea, actions by South Sudanese leaders have amounted to “de facto abandonment” of the peace deal. She highlighted the continued detention of opposition members, the confinement of First Vice President Riek Machar to house arrest, and ongoing military offensives by government troops as clear signs that the agreement is no longer being implemented in good faith.
“Generations of South Sudanese citizens remain trapped in a cycle of conflict, acute need, and disenfranchisement due to the lack of political will on the part of their leaders to change a system that affords them power,” she said.
The ambassador warned that the escalation of violence, particularly in Upper Nile and Jonglei states, is worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis. A UN report cited by Shea documented aerial bombardments, ground attacks, and the displacement of 300,000 people between April and July. The fighting has also forced more than 132,000 South Sudanese to flee into neighbouring countries, she said, fueling regional instability.
Shea further condemned violations of humanitarian access, noting that over 70 per cent of South Sudan’s population needs aid, but relief operations remain hampered by violence against aid workers, corruption, and government restrictions.
“These unilateral actions by the transitional government clearly violate the 2018 peace agreement, undermine unity, threaten to return the country to another civil war, and deprive South Sudanese people of their homes and livelihoods,” Shea warned.
The U.S. remarks come as international patience wears thin with South Sudan’s leadership, raising concerns that the country risks sliding back into large-scale conflict less than four years after its leaders pledged to end hostilities.
