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In Pictures: Juba looks ahead

Life is slowly returning to normal in South Sudanese capital after deadly violence erupted last month.

The number of people sheltering in UN bases remained around 66,900, with the largest concentration of people in Juba and Malakal.

By Emre Rende

Published On 23 Jan 2014

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South Sudan’s army on Saturday gained full control of the strategic town of Bor, situated 200km north of the capital Juba, following three key battles, which saw them fight off 15,000 rebels loyal to former Vice President Riek Mashar. They were assisted by the Ugandan armed forces who are believed to have been fighting alongside the SPLA since the beginning of the conflict. All eyes are now on peace talks in Addis Ababa, which resumed on Monday, where both parties have for weeks been unable to agree on the terms of the ceasefire. The rebels insist that 11 political prisoners, accused by the government to have been plotting a coup against President Salva Kiir, should be released as part of a ceasefire deal. Human Rights Watch and Ivan Simonovic, the UN’s deputy secretary general on Human Rights, have accused both sides of committing human rights’ abuses – including summary executions, arbitrary killings, rape and the recruiting of child soldiers. In Juba, under curfew since violence began on December 15, life is slowly returning to normal with many businesses reopening their doors. Hundreds of students displaced by the conflict, who were unable to take their primary school graduation exams due to ongoing fighting, were this week able to sit the exam in the two UN compounds in Juba.

The UN estimates that 468,000 people have been internally displaced by fighting. Another 83,900 people have crossed into neighbouring countries - with over half going to Uganda.
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The United Nations has said it is finding it difficult to house the tens of thousands of internally displaced people seeking refuge.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic said on Friday the fighting had "now reached the threshold of an internal armed conflict", a status that could lead to prosecutions for war crimes where deemed appropriate.
In 2012, 30 teachers left their profession, applying for jobs as security guards for the United Nation Mission in South Sudan. A month(***)s salary as a UN security guard is the equivalent of what a South Sudanese teacher earns in a year.
The primary leaving exam, which is an essential step for continuing education into secondary level, was due to begin in Juba on December 16, just as fighting spread across the city. Thousands of young people were unable to take the exam.
Ninety percent of the population of South Sudan lived in poverty even before the current fighting.
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The majority of officials send their children to study in neighboring East African countries, a move that has pushed back the development of education in South Sudan.
What began as a power struggle between Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir has taken on overtones of an ethnic conflict. The Dinka, to which Kiir belongs, are pitted against the Nuer, from which Machar hails.
Human rights groups accuse both sides of recruiting child soldiers, a claim the government strongly denies.
The government of Salva Kiir has repeatedly said that the conflict is not a tribal one. They acuse former vice president Riek Mashar of plotting a coup.
In the capital Juba, a sense of normalcy is returning to the streets.
Since fighting began on December 15, 10,000 people are believed to have lost their lives.
South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan in 2011, becoming the world(***)s youngest nation.