2020 in South Sudan

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Decades:	2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2020 Timeline of South Sudanese history

This article lists events from the year 2020 in South Sudan

Incumbents

• President: Salva Kiir Mayardit
• Vice President: Riek Machar

Events

Ongoing – South Sudanese Civil War, Sudanese nomadic conflicts, ethnic violence in South Sudan

• 8 January – The United States announces sanctions against First Vice President Taban Deng Gai of South Sudan for human rights violations. ^[1]
• 10 February – There still is no agreement in South Sudan over the number and boundaries of its states. ^[2] A week later talks are still stalled. ^[3]
• 13 February – The government of South Sudan is accused of ignoring four reports linking oil pollution and birth defects in Upper Nile and Unity states. ^[4]
• 19 February – Locust swarms spread from Uganda to South Sudan. ^[5]
• 20 February – The government and rebels reach a peace agreement in South Sudan. ^[6]
• 5 April - The first case of COVID-19 in the country was confirmed in a 29-year-old patient, a United Nations worker, who arrived on 28 February from the Netherlands. ^[7]
• 14 May 14 – The first death from COVID-19 occurs in the country. ^[8]
• 16 May – Sudan People's Liberation Army Day, South Sudan ^[9]
• 18 May – First Vice President Riek Machar announced he and his wife, Angelina Teny, had tested positive for the virus. ^[10]
• 19 May – Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth and all members of the nation's 15-member coronavirus task force tested positive for COVID-19. ^[11]
• 4 August – Olympic track and field athlete Yiech Pur Biel was named a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). ^[12]
• 9 August - Violence erupted when South Sudan People's Defence Forces members attempted to disarm civilians at a market in Tonj East, leading to at least seventy people being killed. ^[13]
• 10 August - Armed civilians attacked a South Sudan People's Defence Forces base in the town of Romich, where they also looted a market. ^[13]
• September – Two soldiers are convicted of rape and 24 on other charges for crimes committed in Yei, Central Equatoria in May of this year. ^[14]
• 11 December – International food security experts from the Famine Review Committeesaid in December 2020 that Pibor County was likely in a famine. Flooding and violence have prevented access to aid. ^[15]
• 31 December – One million people have been displaced by floods since June. Food shortages, malaria, and diarrheal diseases spread. ^[16]

Deaths

• January 4 – Oliver Batali Albino, 84, South Sudanese politician ^[17]
• June 2 – John Luk Jok, 68, South Sudanese politician, Minister of Justice (2011–2013). ^[18]

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in South Sudan
• COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
• 2020 in East Africa
• 2020 in Sudan
• 2020 in Ethiopia
• 2020 in Kenya
• 2020 in Middle Africa

References

1. US sanctions South Sudan’s vice president over abuses by Cara Anna, AP, 8 January 2020, retrieved 15 February 2020
2. No breakthrough on South Sudan's states dispute The East African, 10 February 2020
3. South Sudan peace talks: Machar and Kiir in deadlock over states BBC WORLD, 16 February 2020
4. South Sudan buries reports on oil pollution, birth defects AP, 13 February 2020
5. South Sudan hit by desert locust swarm as plague spreads Al Jazeera, 19 February 2020
6. S Sudan president, rebel leader agrees to form unity government Al Jazeera, 20 February 2020
7. "South Sudan 51st of 54 African nations to report virus case". AP NEWS. 2020-04-05. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
8. "South Sudan records first COVID-19 death as cases rise". Radio Tamazuj. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
9. "SPLA Day 2020, 2021 and 2022 in South Sudan". PublicHolidays.africa. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
10. "Dr. Riek Machar and wife test positive for COVID-19". Eye Radio. 2020-05-18. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
11. "South Sudan Officials, COVID Task Force Test Positive for Virus | Voice of America - English". Voice of America. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
12. "South Sudan refugee, athlete, Olympian is newest UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador". UN News. 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
13. "UN: 70 killed in South Sudan clashes between army, civilians". Al Jazeera English. August 11, 2020. James Mabior Makuei, the councillor of Tonj East County in Warrap State, told dpa news agency that most recently violence began when civilians refused to hand over their guns to soldiers at a market in Tonj East on Sunday.
14. "Rare conviction of South Sudan soldiers for rape raises hope". AP NEWS. 15 January 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
15. "New report says part of South Sudan is in 'likely famine'". AP NEWS. AP. 11 December 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
16. "'Our children die in our hands': Floods ravage South Sudan". AP NEWS. 1 January 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
17. "Veteran Politician Batali Albino dies". Hot in Juba. 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
18. "South Sudan's East African Affairs minister dies at 68". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2022-09-22.