Renewable Energy and the United Nations: - A GREEN SPARK FOR PEACE IN SOUTH SUDAN

Corruption and extortion are seemingly inescapable in this sector, from the awarding of diesel contracts by the Government of South Sudan (GoSS), to the declaration of imports and payment of taxes at the Nimule border, to the middlemen in Juba and the transportation routes passing through dozens of armed checkpoints around the country, to the local diesel retailers across the country’s 10 states. [...] A new civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013, and led to the destruction of nascent infrastructure and the reversal of economic, governance, and developmental gains across the country, as well as the deaths of several hundred thousand people and the displacement of approximately 4 million people.2 The decision by UNMISS to open the gates of its bases throughout the country to provide. [...] Though the 2018 deal ostensibly reconciled the two main belligerents – Kiir and Machar – under the auspices of a new unity government, the agreement did not include all of the warring factions.15 In principle, the R-ARCSS has continued to hold, at least in Juba, though conflict has continued across much of the rest of the country, driven by many of the same factors that lay at the heart of the civ. [...] As the official supply of dollars fell, the price of dollars on the black market rose and the price of goods also increased.18 In 2015, the national currency was floated, leading to rapid depreciation and rendering food and other imports even more unaffordable.19 At the same time, the sharp drop in oil revenues and production since 2013 led the government to finance its deficits by borrowing from. [...] The resolution also requests UNMISS to engage at the earliest possible stage on integrated planning and coordination on transitions (i.e., the eventual drawdown of the mission and the reconfiguration of the UN presence in South Sudan) with the resident coordinator and the UN country team, other agencies, funds, and programs, the host State, and other national stakeholders including civil society.