UNHCR Regional Coordinator: “What keeps me awake at night is the loss of a generation to South Sudan situation”

The United Nations Regional Refugee Coordinator for South Sudan is calling on the warring factions to immediately cease hostilities and fully implement the peace agreement to end the suffering of the people of South Sudan.

Arnauld Akodjenou was appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in June this year to work closely with UNHCR operations in South Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, to ensure a strong overarching vision and coherent engagement across the region in pursuit of protection and solutions for South Sudanese IDPs and refugees.

Mr. Akodjenou has so far toured four of the six refugee hosting countries, including northern Uganda where he met with scores of refugees who have left their lives behind and been reduced to refugee lives, stripped of dignity.

While in in Juba Mr. Arnauld met with key government officials including President Salva Kiir and highlighted the urgency to end the fighting, reechoing calls for a political solution to end the suffering of the people of South Sudan.

In this heart-wrenching interview with Alex Agole, the Regional Refugee Coordinator recalls harrowing tales of a refugee woman and her elder daughter who were raped in front of her younger children, and how youthful men are turning to alcohol to drown their traumatic experiences.