South Sudan’s Drugs and Food Control Authority (DFCA) has banned importation and sale of all skin lightening products. Mawien Atem Mawien, secretary general of DFCA, said the ban seeks to protect the people of South Sudan from being exposed to harmful chemicals used in manufacturing skin bleaching cosmetics. “All the…

The United Nations has condemned a series of brutal sexual assaults on 125 women and girls, travelling on the road to Bentiu, a town in the north of the war-ravaged South Sudan. The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said over the last 10 days, the women and girls had…

Gunmen have raped 125 women during a 10-day spree of violence in the Northern town of Bentiu in South Sudan. An aid agency, Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), stated this on Friday, but local officials disputed the report. “Some (of those raped) are girls under 10 years old and others are…

Nigeria on Wednesday dropped by a spot in the latest World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking for 2018, released by the global financial institution. According to details of the report, of the 190 countries ranked by the World Bank, Nigeria ranked 146 in 2018, dropping by a spot from…

The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Wednesday provided a grant of $43.5 million to South Sudan to help in the fight against hunger. According to Benedict Kanu, AfDB Country Manager in South Sudan, the donation seeks to provide immediate food assistance to hunger-hit areas of South Sudan. Mr Kanu added…

South Sudan government on Tuesday said all the opposition leaders that signed the revitalised peace agreement in Ethiopia were expected to attend peace day celebration scheduled for October 30. Tut Galuak, Chairman of the Organising Committee, said that main opposition leader, Riek Machar along with other opposition groups would participate…

Nigeria is prepared to help South Sudan stabilise politically and economically, President Muhammadu Buhari assures. Receiving Ezekiel Gatkuoth, Special Envoy of the South Sudanese President at State House, Abuja, on Tuesday, President Buhari noted that the two countries have a lot in common in the area of developmental aspirations, adding:…

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and rebel leader, Riek Machar, signed a peace agreement on Wednesday in the margins of a regional summit in Ethiopia. South Sudan plunged into warfare two years after gaining independence from Sudan in 2011 when a political dispute between Messrs Kiir and Machar exploded into…

The third round of peace talks between South Sudan’s conflicting parties started on Monday in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. This round of talks “discusses some issues that have not been resolved in the document of the peace deal signed on August 5,” said Sudan’s Foreign Minister Al-Dirdiri Ahmed. “All South…

Uganda’s constitutional court has approved the removal of the presidential age limit of 75 years, a ruling that would potentially allow President Yoweri Museveni to extend his three-decade rule. The court endorsed parliament’s decision to scrap the cap in December that drew accusations from opposition parties that the 73-year-old Museveni…

South Sudan’s government and the main rebel group inked a power-sharing deal in the Sudanese capital on Wednesday, local media reported. They hoped it would end years of conflict, however, smaller opposition groups have refrained from signing. Riek Machar, a former vice president who will be reinstated into his old…

The UN Security Council on Friday narrowly passed a measure aimed at stopping the flow of weapons to armed groups in South Sudan. Adopting a resolution by a vote of nine in favour and none against, with six abstentions, the 15-member body obliged all UN Member States to immediately take…

The UN has accused South Sudan government forces and allies of killing 232 civilians and raping 120 women and girls in opposition-held villages. A UN investigation identified three commanders suspected of bearing the “greatest responsibility” in the violence in Unity State between April 16 and May 24 that may amount…

South Sudan rebels on Monday rejected a peace plan to reinstate insurgent leader Riek Machar as vice president, saying it failed to dilute the strong power base of the country’s president. Machar was President Salva Kiir’s deputy until 2013 when a political disagreement between them degenerated into a war that…

South Sudan’s lawmakers have begun debating a proposal to amend the country’s constitution to extend the presidential and parliamentary term to July 2021. South Sudanese Justice Minister Paulino Unango on Monday presented the constitutional amended bill 2018 to parliament seeking to extend the duration of the Transitional National Assembly, the…

South Sudan’s army said that 16 civilians have been killed and 22 others wounded including foreign nationals in the latest ceasefire deal violation. Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) spokesman, Lul Koang told Xinhua by phone in Juba that rebel leader Riek Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) forces…

The Republic of Sudan and its neighbour, South Sudan, have agreed on a permanent ceasefire to ensure sustainable peace in both countries. The Sudanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Ibrahim Bushra, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Sunday. He said that the agreement was the outcome of a meeting…

President Salva Kiir of South Sudan has ordered implementation of the permanent ceasefire signed recently with rebel leader Riek Machar in the Sudanese capital. Mr Kiir’s order aired on State radio, urged government forces to remain vigilant in their positions and fight only in self-defence and also allow unhindered humanitarian…

The United Nations recorded over 21,000 violations against children during armed conflicts in 2017, a report from the UN chief said on Wednesday. “These include over 10,000 children who were maimed and killed during fighting as well as UN-verified instances of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals and children…

South Sudan’s rebel leader, Riek Machar, arrived in Ethiopia on Wednesday for a meeting with South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir, as part of talks to negotiate an end to a five-year-old civil war, a rebel spokesman and an Ethiopian official said. “Yes, I can confirm to you that our chairman…

The UN Security Council has extended by 45 days sanctions against South Sudan. The resolution passed 9 “yes” votes and six abstentions from the 15 member Security Council, giving just enough votes for the draft to be adopted as Resolution 2418. The adoption of a Security Council resolution needs nine…

A Juba-based monitoring group, Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM), has accused South Sudan’s army and rebels of massacre, burning children alive and gang-raping women after a supposed ceasefire in December. According to reports by monitors appointed by the country’s East African neighbours in a five-year-old civil war,…

Three fallen Nigerian peacekeepers will be honoured, among others, in commemoration of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, the United Nations (UN) has said. The three Nigerians are: Ali Suleiman, a Lt. Col. who served with the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO);…

South Sudan’s government on Wednesday urged the U. S. not to “abandon” the country after Washington said it would review its assistance programmes because it could not continue a partnership with leaders perpetuating “endless war”. “We are asking the U. S. not to abandon this country (South Sudan) because we…

The U.S. has announced about $533 million in humanitarian assistance for Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan, as well as countries in the Lake Chad region. U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, said millions of people were facing life-threatening food insecurity and malnutrition as a result of ongoing conflict or…