Overview
- Coverage marking the 15th anniversary, which was Thursday, July 9, 2026, documents persistent local and intercommunal violence that now affects almost every state and drives repeated displacement.
- Observers say fewer than 25 percent of the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) provisions have been carried out, with security‑sector reform and force integration still incomplete.
- Humanitarian agencies report a deepening emergency: an estimated 7.8 million people face crisis-level food insecurity, about 73,000 are in catastrophic conditions, and hospitals are operating beyond capacity with a 50 percent rise in medical evacuations this year.
- Political rivalry between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar has returned to violence, with Machar arrested and charged after attacks in 2025, a dynamic that donors and analysts say undermines trust in the transition and election planning.
- Economic fragility compounds the crisis because oil revenues fund most state spending, exports run through Sudan and have fallen, public services are limited, and officials warn that donor shortfalls and worsening security could push more communities into hunger.