UN envoy on sexual violence visiting S. Sudan

May 5, 2016 (JUBA) – The United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura is due in South Sudan from 5-9 May, having been invited by the South Sudanese government.

Bangura, the UN said in a statement, will participate in activities that will culminate in the validation and launching of the implementation plan of the joint communiqué that she co-signed with President Salva Kiir in October 2014.

“Special Representative Bangura will seize the opportunity of her presence in Juba to consult with senior United Nations colleagues, meet with relevant national authorities, civil society organisations and women’s groups and the diplomatic community,” partly reads the statement.

Women in South Sudan have suffered unprecedented levels of sexual violence inform of rape, abduction and forced marriages in the past two years of the country’s conflict.

(ST)