South Sudan’s government on Friday summoned a top US diplomat to explain reported remarks by US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley calling the country’s president as “an unfit partner.”

The United States signalled a sharp shift in its South Sudan policy on Wednesday with its United Nations envoy denouncing President Salva Kiir as “an unfit partner.”

While refugee-hosting is associated with some benefits to the local economy, the large-scale presence of refugees undeniably creates a heavy burden for hosting communities

South Sudan in Focus airs at 7:30 pm in Juba (1630 UTC) and can be heard on FM stations throughout South Sudan, on shortwave, and on VOA’s 24-hour channel in Nairobi at 8:30 pm. The program is hosted by John Tanza in Washington D.C., and a network of reporters around South Sudan and in Washington produce the stories that are heard on South Sudan in Focus

The United States on Wednesday called for an international arms embargo to be imposed on South Sudan following the failure of the latest ceasefire aimed at ending the four-year war

South Sudanese rebels are holding two Kenyan pilots and will not release them until compensation is paid to the family of a civilian killed when their plane crashed, a rebel spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday

At least 28 aid workers were killed in war-torn South Sudan in 2017, the United Nations said in a statement