While the signing last month of a ceasefire accord among South Sudan’s warring parties is a great stride forward, it is just a first step toward peace and stability, the United Nations peacekeeping chief said Wednesday, warning that the 21 December deal has already been violated numerous times.
Following a two-day visit to conflict-ravaged South Sudan, where a quarter of a million children are severely malnourished and at imminent risk of death, the head of the United Nations children's agency has said only an end to hostilities can bring back hope and safety to the children and young people there.
For Samuel James Ayot, a villager from Akoka in rural north South Sudan, accessing basic services and earning a livelihood does not mean having to make a perilous neck-deep wade across a river, thanks to the tireless efforts of Indian peacekeepers from the United Nations mission there, who rebuilt a bridge and connected his village to a major provincial town.
