JUBA, South Sudan—(July 10, 2016)– As South Sudan marked five years of independence, the peace process seemingly collapsed with outbreak of violence in the capital city of Juba that quickly spread to areas surrounding the city. In order to avoid complete fallout of the country and further exacerbating the humanitarian crisis, CARE calls on the warring parties to reach a ceasefire immediately and return focus to the signed peace deal.
Fred McCray, CARE Country Director based in Juba, South Sudan said: “In the past three days, we have watched South Sudan’s peace deal crumble before our very eyes. The violence erupted in Juba on Thursday night, and has been ongoing throughout the weekend. The fighting escalated significantly on Sunday with small arms fire, heavy artillery and helicopter gunships ensuing on multiple parts of the city. This violence has caused widespread panic and massive displacement in Juba and the surrounding areas. Families are fleeing multiple times seeking safety from the violence that has taken over the city the past few days. CARE is particularly concerned for the safety of women and girls who are most vulnerable in this volatile environment. It is imperative that the warring parties reach a permanent ceasefire immediately, before the violence spreads throughout the country and more innocent lives are impacted.”
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Media Contact: Holly Frew hfrew@care.org +1.770.842.6188
About CARE in South Sudan: CARE has been operating in Southern Sudan since 1993, most recently providing assistance in health, nutrition, food security and livelihoods, peace building and gender based violence prevention across four states including some of the worst affected by conflict. CARE currently works in Upper Nile, Unity, Jonglei and Eastern Equatoria. Since the crisis began in 2013 CARE has assisted over 300,000 people across these four states. CARE has around 217 staff on the ground of which the majority (over 200) are national staff.