AU calls for solidarity with South Sudan against COVID-19 challenges

The African Union (AU) Commission on Friday emphasized the importance of African solidarity with South Sudan in face of “the paramount challenges it faces.”

The urgent call was made by the AU Peace and Security Council on Friday, which followed the Council’s recent meeting that dwelt upon the current situations in South Sudan.

“The Council highlights the importance of African solidarity with South Sudan in facing the paramount challenges it faces in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent devastating floods,” an AU statement issued on Friday read.

Commending the sizeable assistance provided recently by Egypt to South Sudan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council also encouraged “all member states to contribute, within their resources and capabilities, to efforts aimed at supporting peace and resilience of South Sudan.”

It also acknowledged the efforts being deployed by the government of South Sudan and all the parties, as well as the overall progress achieved to date in the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and the positive impact thereof on the overall political, security and humanitarian situation, while bearing in mind the dire challenges including due to the COVID-19 pandemic, desert locust invasion, devastating floods and the difficult economic situation.

The Council also “requested the AU Commission, through the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa-CDC), and the AU Trust Fund on COVID-19 response to continue supporting the country in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.”
It also commended South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir for “the spirit of African solidarity demonstrated” in his decision to donate 1 million U.S. dollars to the AU COVID-19 pandemic response.

According to the latest figures from the Africa CDC, specialized healthcare agency of the AU Commission, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Sudan has reached 2,599 as of Friday, while the death toll from the pandemic rose to 49. Some 1,294 people who have been tested positive for the virus have also recovered so far.

In August,  Egypt’s Minister of Health, Hala Zayed,met her South Sudanese counterpart, Elizabeth Achuei, in the capital Juba. Under the directives of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Zayed pledged further medical support for South Sudan. The medical aid will be used to combat the Hepatitis C and B viruses, as well as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.