The youngest nation

Ten years after gaining its independence from neighbouring Sudan on 9 July 2011, South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, still struggles to forge ahead, held together by a fragile peace deal. The country plunged into civil war only two years after the referendum for independence. A peace deal was reached but another round of conflict broke out again in 2016 before a second peace deal — the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (r­arcss) of 2018 — was signed. In 2020, the nation formed a Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity made up of members of previously warring parties in accordance with the 2018 peace deal. However, its implementation has been delayed. Violence between communities has seen an increase, contributing to a dire humanitarian crisis. According to a ...