By Charles Lotara, SSMJ New York, Friday (November 8, 2024) – The recent report by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on South Sudan presented to the United Nations General Assembly painted a grim picture of the economic and humanitarian challenges plaguing the country, coupled with the oil crisis and resource mismanagement. Speaking to the panel in a televised address from New York on October 30, 2024, Barney Afako, deputy chair of the UN Human Rights Commission, said the confl
By Charles Lotara, SSMJ
New York, Friday (November 8, 2024) – The recent report by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on South Sudan presented to the United Nations General Assembly painted a grim picture of the economic and humanitarian challenges plaguing the country, coupled with the oil crisis and resource mismanagement.
Speaking to the panel in a televised address from New York on October 30, 2024, Barney Afako, deputy chair of the UN Human Rights Commission, said the conflict in Sudan has severely disrupted oil exports, a primary source of revenue for South Sudan, and intensified the nation’s ongoing economic and humanitarian crises.
“The war in Sudan has driven another 800,000 people into the country while disrupting its oil exports and plunging the economy into a deeper crisis. Climate-induced flooding has caused further displacement and deepened the humanitarian crisis in the country,” Afako said.
He claimed that the limited resources which could otherwise be utilized to improve the living conditions of citizens have been misappropriated by political elites, piling misery on civilians, including civil servants and organized forces who have gone for months without salaries.
“Instead, they have escalated their competition for power and resources. The economic crimes and gross mismanagement have directly fueled violence and repression and deprived millions of basic rights to food, health, and education,” Afako told the panel.
South Sudan experienced difficulties in transporting oil to the global market since the conflict in Sudan started in April last year. But Afako claimed that “by diverting billions of oil dollars for their personal gain, unaccountable elites have reduced South Sudanese to precarious and dignified lives, depriving them of basic necessities”.
This misappropriation of resources, he said, has fueled public discontent and reinforced the country's dependence on foreign aid even as the government struggles to address urgent needs in health, education, and infrastructure.
In recent attempts to revive the economy, Juba has engaged the Khartoum warring factions in a bid to ensure a smooth resumption of oil exports.
The South Sudan Mining Journal understands that the recent visit to Khartoum by a delegation led by the Presidential Advisor on National Security, Tut Gatluak, culminated in a consensus to resume oil production.
Afako stated that, despite its abundance of oil resources, minerals, and fertile land, South Sudan remains highly susceptible to external shocks and that climate-induced flooding has added yet another layer of hardship, causing widespread displacement.
The floodwaters have not only destroyed homes and farmland but also disrupted livelihoods, intensifying the need for humanitarian assistance.
This environmental crisis, coupled with economic mismanagement, has left millions in South Sudan with little hope for sustainable economic progress or social stability.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs , flooding continues to impact and displace people countrywide, with over 1 million individuals affected by floods across 42 counties and the Abyei Administrative Area.
Northern Bahr el Ghazal and oil-producing Unity comprise over 40 percent of the affected population, with about 271,000 people displaced by floods in 17 counties and the Abyei Administrative Area.
Flooding affects oil wells. In 2023, oil production dropped to 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 160,000 bpd in 2022 due to heavy flooding in the northern oil fields, the Minister of Petroleum Puot Kang Chol said on the sidelines of the economic forum in Juba.
The minister stated that the government has restored 300 oil wells operated by the Dar Petroleum Operating Company and more than 239 wells operated by the Greater Pioneer Operating Company and the Sudd Petroleum Operating Company.
Flooding has also impacted production at the Tharjath Refinery in Unity State, also known as the Western Upper Nile, according to Kang.