I. Introduction
1. This report is submitted pursuant to Security Council resolution 2729 (2024), by which the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until 30 April 2025. The report covers political and security developments, the humanitarian and human rights situation, and progress in the implementation of the Mission’s mandate between 16 February and 15 July 2024.
II. Political and economic developments
2. Five months before the December 2024 elections, limited progress has been made in implementing the key electoral benchmarks set out in the renewed agreement to resolve the conflict in South Sudan. Some steps have been taken to commission the technical electoral bodies and implement temporary security arrangements.
3. In February and March, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), its allied groups, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) expressed opposing positions on holding elections in December 2024, with the latter claiming that the country was not ready. In March, the High-Level Standing Committee, a top ministerial-level body that had led the previous extension of the implementation of the peace agreement, began a review of the roadmap and completed its report on the state of implementation in early July. The Presidency meeting to consider the report and recommendations on the way forward, including the nature and timing of elections, has not yet taken place. In March and April respectively, the visiting Chair of the African Union High-Level Ad Hoc Committee on South Sudan, President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, and the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Workneh Gebeyehu, encouraged the parties to engage in dialogue and implement outstanding tasks.
4. In May, the political focus shifted to the high-level mediation for South Sudan, the so-called Tumaini Initiative. The Tumaini Initiative was launched in Nairobi on 9 May under the auspices of the Kenyan government and continues the efforts of the Sant’Egidio Community in Rome to facilitate talks between the transitional government and non-signatory groups. However, with actors outside the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) also participating, including the leader of the South Sudan People’s Movement/Army, Stephen Buay Rolnyang, a splinter group of the National Salvation Front (NAS) calling itself the Revolutionary Command Council, and representatives of civil society, it is a more comprehensive process than the one in Rome. Conspicuously absent from the talks are Thomas Cirillo of the NAS and Simon Gatwech of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-Army in the opposition Kit-Gwang. On 6 June, UNMISS was granted observer status.
5. The government delegation, the opposition and stakeholders have now agreed on the main issues that will be the subject of the protocols and on the outcome of their negotiations: the “Tumaini Consensus”. The government delegation returned to Juba on 20 June and 2 July to discuss the main points. On 15 July, the participants of the Tumaini Initiative signed the consensus protocols and continued to work on the divergence issues.
6. Limited progress has been reported in the commissioning of key electoral and political institutions. In April, the National Electoral Commission and the Council of Political Parties each received a portion of approximately 22 billion South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) of the approximately 253,594,678,735 SSP requested and 7.6 billion SSP of the 40 billion SSP requested. In June, the National Constitutional Review Commission received approximately 1.2 billion SSP of the 43,794,227,620 SSP requested.
7. The National Electoral Commission announced on 13 June that voter registration would be postponed from June to July. On 19 June, the Commission announced the formation of electoral committees in all ten states. Earlier, in May, the Commission, with the support of UNMISS, visited the states to consult with stakeholders and begin the process of establishing the state committees.
8. On 5 July, the National Electoral Commission announced 22 December as the election date, citing legal obligations under the National Electoral Law. In a joint statement on 11 July, UNMISS, the African Union Mission in South Sudan and IGAD called on the parties to the renewed agreement to reach consensus on the way forward and clarify the timetable for the elections. On the same day, the National Electoral Commission swore in all 50 members of the state electoral committees, with each state sending five members. The newly appointed members were advised to designate voter registration centres and begin civic education activities.
9. Currently, only the SPLM party is involved in election campaign activities. On May 25, the SPLM held a rally in Greater Equatoria, endorsing President Salva Kiir Mayardit as the party’s candidate for the election. In his address, the President warned that extending the election timetable risked renewed clashes.
10. According to the Council of Parties, 29 parties have registered to participate in the upcoming elections. Tensions continued over the party registration fee. On 20 May, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, in response to a petition from 14 parties, said it considered the $75,000 fee for full registration of political parties illegal. Although the SPLM-IO has not yet registered, in early April its Secretary General called for the lifting of restrictions on the movement of First Vice President Riek Machar so that he could campaign. On 30 June, the Council halted the registration process. The SPLM-IO stated that it was prevented from registering because it still had a militia that had yet to be integrated into the Necessary United Forces and therefore did not meet the registration conditions.
11. The President and First Vice President met on 3 May and agreed to begin training the second batch of the Necessary Unified Forces; the SPLM-IO submitted a list of officers to be appointed to the middle command structures in the security sector. On 29 May, the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) also submitted a list of officers to be integrated into the national army and police. No further developments were reported regarding the middle command structure or the training of the second batch. Despite government claims that the bulk of the first batch of the Necessary Unified Forces was deployed in the security sector, the Ceasefire and Temporary Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism stated that only about 7 percent of the planned 83,000 troops were deployed, limited to the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces.
Other political developments
12. The Transitional Assembly of the National Parliament, which had been in recess since mid-December, resumed its work on April 3. On July 12, the Assembly submitted four bills to the President for assent, including the National Security Act 2014 (Amendment) Bill (2024), which retains provisions granting the National Security Service powers of arrest.
13. The President made numerous changes in key government positions, including the Minister of Finance and Planning, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the Minister of Trade and Industry, and the Managing Director of the state-owned oil company Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet). The governors and deputy governors of Central Equatoria, Unity, Jonglei, Western Equatoria, and Northern Bahr el-Ghazal states, as well as the chief administrative officers of the Greater Pibor and Ruweng administrative regions, and numerous state deputies and district commissioners were also replaced. Reshuffles affected members of the SPLM, SPLM-IO, and SSOA.
Regional commitments and developments
14. Mr Kiir toured the region as Chairman of the East African Community. In February and March he met with counterparts in Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. In this context, the shared border between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo was officially reopened on 16 April.
15. Regarding the Sudan conflict, on 26 March, IGAD appointed former Presidential Legal Adviser Lawrence Korbandy of South Sudan as its Special Envoy to Sudan. Vice President of the Sovereign Council of Sudan Malik Agar visited Juba on 3 April to discuss bilateral issues and the conflict in Sudan. From 23 to 25 April, the African Union High Level Group on Sudan visited Juba as part of its shuttle diplomacy to meet with regional leaders and reaffirm commitment to peace in Sudan. In May, a consultative meeting between the Sudanese government and the SPLM-North on humanitarian access to Sudan was held in Juba.
Economic situation
16. South Sudan’s economic situation deteriorated in part due to disruptions in oil exports resulting from the war in Sudan, which led to a deterioration in the exchange rate and an increase in food and fuel prices. On 16 March, Sudan declared force majeure on crude oil shipments through the Upper Nile Pipeline due to conflict-related disruptions. The exchange rate had been above SSP 2,000 per dollar since March, reaching SSP 3,700 in June. Some civil servants in South Sudan have not received their salaries for nine months.
17. In this context, the Government has attempted to address economic instability by increasing revenues from sources other than the oil sector. This has included the introduction of new taxes and fees on imports and exports in March, the delivery of subsidised fuel to Juba in June and the auction of hard currency. However, disagreements over payments and the applicability of the new taxes and fees have led to import blockades, including for the Mission and United Nations agencies, funds and programmes.
