JUBA: The worst locust outbreak that parts of East Africa have seen in 70 years has reached South Sudan, a country where roughly half the population already faces hunger after years of civil war, officials announced Tuesday.
Around 2,000 locusts were spotted inside the country, Agriculture Minister Onyoti Adigo told reporters. Authorities will try to control the outbreak, he added.
The locusts have been seen in Eastern Equatoria state near the borders with Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. All have been affected by the outbreak that has been influenced by the changing climate in the region.
The situation in those three countries “remains extremely alarming,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said in its latest Locust Watch update Monday. Locusts also have reached Sudan, Eritrea, Tanzania and more recently Uganda.
The soil in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria has a sandy nature that allows the locusts to lay eggs easily, said Meshack Malo, country representative with the FAO.
At this stage “if we are not able to deal with them ... it will be a problem,” he said.
South Sudan is even less prepared than other countries in the region for a locust outbreak, and its people are arguably more vulnerable. More than 5 million people are severely food insecure, the UN humanitarian office says in its latest assessment, and some 860,000 children are malnourished.
Five years of civil war shattered South Sudan’s economy, and lingering insecurity since a 2018 peace deal continues to endanger humanitarians trying to distribute aid. Another local aid worker was shot and killed last week, the UN said Tuesday.
The locusts have traveled across the region in swarms the size of major cities. Experts say their only effective control is aerial spraying with pesticides, but UN and local authorities have said more aircraft and pesticides are required. A handful of planes have been active in Kenya and Ethiopia.
The UN has said $76 million is needed immediately. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a visit to Ethiopia said the US would donate another $8 million to the effort. That follows an earlier $800,000.
The number of overall locusts could grow up to 500 times by June, when drier weather begins, experts have said. Until then, the fear is that more rains in the coming weeks will bring fresh vegetation to feed a new generation of the voracious insects.
South Sudanese ministers called for a collective regional response to the outbreak that threatens to devastate crops and pasturage.
Huge locust outbreak in East Africa reaches South Sudan
https://arab.news/4da2f
Huge locust outbreak in East Africa reaches South Sudan
- South Sudan is even less prepared than other countries in the region for a locust outbreak
Europeans propose ‘multinational force’ for Ukraine peace
- The force would be part of “robust security guarantees” for Ukraine from the United States and European powers
- Ukraine’s military should continue receiving extensive support, and maintain a peacetime strength of 800,000 troops
BERLIN: European leaders on Monday proposed a European-led “multinational force” with US support to enforce a potential peace deal in Ukraine, according to a joint statement.
The force would be part of “robust security guarantees” for Ukraine from the United States and European powers aimed at guaranteeing that Russia would not violate an agreement to end the war.
The statement — whose signatories included the leaders of Britain, France and Germany — was released as European leaders gathered with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin.
The statement also outlined what it said were other points of agreement between a dozen European leaders and US officials in talks over the outlines of a peace proposal.
Ukraine’s military should continue receiving extensive support, and maintain a peacetime strength of 800,000 troops, the statement said.
Peace would also be maintained by a “US-led ceasefire monitoring and verification mechanism” that would identify violations and “provide early warning of any future attack,” the statement said.
Countries should also make a “legally binding commitment, subject to national procedures, to take measures to restore peace and security in the case of a future armed attack.”
The statement was also signed by the leaders of Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden, as well as the heads of the European Council and the European Commission.
- Progress on security -
Earlier on Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that talks in Berlin with two of US President Donald Trump’s close advisers — special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — had yielded “substantial” progress on security guarantees, long a sticking point over any potential peace deal.
The joint statement also stressed the importance of rebuilding Ukraine’s economy, with the leaders backing favorable trade arrangements and “major resources” for reconstruction.
The signers also said they “strongly support” Ukraine joining the European Union.
Talks remain in flux, however, and the statement stressed that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
It remains unclear how Russian President Vladimir Putin might react to the proposals — particularly the prospect of security guarantees for Ukraine and European troops potentially being deployed on Ukrainian territory.
There also remains the key question of the fate of territory occupied by Russian forces, a sticking point in earlier discussions.
The statement said it is “now incumbent upon Russia to show willingness to work toward a lasting peace by agreeing to President Trump’s peace plan and to demonstrate their commitment to end the fighting by agreeing to a ceasefire.”
Until then, the European leaders “agreed to continue to increase pressure on Russia to bring Moscow to negotiate in earnest.”
