Posted by Meabh Smith
As a ceasefire holds in South Sudan, Trócaire is supporting emergency aid for people forced from their homes.
As a fragile ceasefire holds in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, tens of thousands of people are now homeless; either sheltering in church and UN compounds, living in forests, or displaced to surrounding rural areas.
Trócaire is getting food, clean water, sanitation and emergency supplies to people sheltering in church compounds with our UK partner, CAFOD.
An estimated 36,000 people forced from home
The renewed fighting has made an already challenging situation worse.
The UN estimates that more than 36,000 people have fled their homes and that the death toll has reached more than 300, including scores of civilians.
Church authorities believe that around 15,000 people in Juba have taken shelter in churches or other religious buildings.
Fighting broke out on 7th July 2016 and lasted for four days between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to Vice-President Riek Machar. President Kiir and Vice-President Machar announced a ceasefire which came into force on the following Monday.
"Their suffering is ours."
Our local partner, Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala from the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio, was in Juba at the start of the outbreak of fighting.
“My heart and my prayers goes out to the families of those who died so violently and to those whose lives have been forever changed,” he said. “Their suffering is ours.”
The South Sudan Council of Churches, of which Bishop Eduardo is a member, has called for peace and for the current ceasefire to be respected, calling on the political leadership to do all it can to build peace and reconciliation in the country.
Trócaire and CAFOD will continue to help people in South Sudan to recover from this latest outbreak of conflict.