New York/Juba, June 30, 2017 (SSNA) — Humanitarian and Conflict experts have accused the international community of ignoring South Sudan’s civil war by not doing enough to help end the crisis.
“The U.N. is an easy punching bag when things go wrong, but at the end of the day the U.N. responds to the will of the member states,” Steve Vigil, a former UN peacekeeper, and development specialist said.
Former assistant administrator for Africa at the United States Agency for International Development Linda Etim also questioned the involvement of the international community.
“At what point are we willing to push forward aggressively and say enough is enough?” Etim asked.
Etim suggests the African Union and the United Nations should help by holding South Sudanese leaders and other actors responsible for crimes committed in the ongoing armed conflict.
“The U.N. is an easy punching bag when things go wrong, but at the end of the day the U.N. responds to the will of the member states,” Vigil said.
The experts also accused the UN Security Council permanent members (France, Russia, USA, China, and the UK) of acting against humanitarian efforts in South Sudan.