South Sudan: USAID's Gast At Senate Hearing On South Sudan

South Sudan's Broken Promise?

Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify on the political and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan and the U.S. response. Thank you also for your continued support of USAID's humanitarian programs around the world, which make a positive difference every day in the lives of millions.

Introduction

The U.S. government, including many members of Congress, has been a strong supporter of the welfare of the people of South Sudan for decades--throughout Sudan's civil war, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement period, and since independence in 2011. We are all deeply alarmed by the horrific violence now threatening their hard-won struggle for independence--especially today, which marks the third anniversary of the conclusion of South Sudan's referendum, in which an overwhelming 99 percent of the South Sudanese people voted to form the world's youngest nation. The people of South Sudan have endured far too many years of conflict and bloodshed to see peace slip away.

The outbreak of hostilities on December 15 has since erupted into heavy fighting across six of South Sudan's 10 states. This fighting is the result of longstanding, deeply rooted grievances in a fragile new state with nascent institutions not yet able to deliver justice or services to its people. Coupled with an unresolved power struggle that has ignited tensions along ethnic lines, we are now seeing a vicious cycle of targeted killings.

As this new fighting creates a new, vast set of humanitarian needs, it also significantly complicates our ability to meet the extensive humanitarian needs that existed across South Sudan prior to December 15. Due to decades of civil war, sporadic communal violence, and the recurrent shocks of floods and drought, an estimated 40 percent of South Sudan's population--up to 4.4 million people--were already in need of humanitarian assistance. Even before the current crisis, the lack of roads and pervasive underdevelopment made South Sudan one of the most difficult environments to work in worldwide.

Meanwhile, South Sudan has welcomed some 230,000 refugees from neighboring countries, including the more than 200,000 refugees who have fled the fighting in Sudan's Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states since June 2011, adding to an already vast array of needs in a country where more than half the population lives below the poverty line, and human development indicators are among the lowest in the world.