{"id":47795,"date":"2026-09-11T13:54:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T11:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=47795"},"modified":"2026-09-11T13:54:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T11:54:52","slug":"rights-watch-warns-south-sudan-elections-face-security-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/11\/rights-watch-warns-south-sudan-elections-face-security-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Rights watch warns South Sudan elections face security challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Sabri Dibaco <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has warned that the country\u2019s upcoming elections face serious challenges, including insecurity, inadequate funding, and the possible exclusion of some communities from the political process.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at a media conference in Juba on Thursday, the Commission said the electoral process remains \u201cgrossly underfunded,&#8221; while the timetable for completing the elections within about 100 days is highly ambitious.<\/p>\n<p>Commissioner Barney Afako said insecurity remains a major concern, with violence affecting up to half of South Sudan\u2019s states. He warned that insecurity could prevent electoral officials from reaching some communities and restrict citizens from exercising their right to vote.<\/p>\n<p>Afako cautioned that conducting elections in only parts of the country could create what he described as a \u201cdemocratic deficit\u201d and potentially fuel new grievances.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission has called on political leaders to assess election-related risks and prepare for disputes that could emerge before, during, and after polling. It also urged leaders to strengthen political dialogue throughout the electoral process.<\/p>\n<p>South Sudan is preparing for elections as part of its broader political transition and implementation of the peace process. The planned polls come amid continuing insecurity, humanitarian pressures, and concerns over the capacity and resources required to conduct nationwide elections.<\/p>\n<p>The UN Commission says adequate funding, security, and inclusive participation will be critical to ensuring that the elections are credible and representative.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission has also encouraged voters to demand clear commitments from candidates on security, the economy, humanitarian needs, and opportunities for young people.<\/p>\n<p>It says the elections should be viewed not only as a political exercise but also as an opportunity to renew South Sudan\u2019s commitment to peace, political transition, and national transformation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Sabri Dibaco The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has warned that the country\u2019s upcoming elections face serious challenges, including insecurity, inadequate funding, and the possible exclusion of some communities from the political process. Speaking at a media conference in Juba on Thursday, the Commission said the<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/11\/rights-watch-warns-south-sudan-elections-face-security-challenges\/\">[Read More&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":47796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Courtesy-photo-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47795"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47797,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47795\/revisions\/47797"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}