9 July 2014 - As South Sudan celebrates its third independence anniversary today, the top UN official yesterday reminded the country’s political leaders that the ongoing crisis is man-made and that it is their responsibility and within their power to stop it.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recalled the hopes and expectations of the South Sudanese people when the country gained its independence on 9 July 2011.

“Those hopes were dashed by the conflict that broke out in December 2013,” said the statement, noting that people are living in squalor, their livelihoods have been lost and they are plagued by hunger, disease and insecurity.

Over 1.3 million people have been driven from their homes and, unless the resources are forthcoming and the parties cooperate, hundreds of thousands face the possibility of famine in the coming months, the statement added.

“(Mr. Ban) calls on (the leaders) to live up to the expectations of their people, lay down their arms and return immediately to the negotiation table,” the statement said.

The Secretary General reassured the people of South Sudan, who are bearing the brunt of the failure to stop the fighting, that the UN will continue to make every effort to provide them protection and humanitarian assistance.

Prior to departing the country yesterday, former UNMISS Chief Hilde F. Johnson described the losses brought upon the South Sudanese people as “heartbreaking”.

“You didn’t deserve this crisis,” said the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG), who was head of the peacekeeping mission for the last three years. “Those who suffer the most now are you … the millions who are hungry and all those who are angry – feeling betrayed by your leaders.”

Ms. Johnson noted that as South Sudan celebrated its third independence anniversary, the people were seeing “a country that is now at grave risk, not only of fighting, but also of failing.”

“The nation-building project which was extremely hard from the very beginning will now be more difficult than ever,” she said. “It has been set back decades. For us who have shared the struggle of the South Sudanese for peace and justice for all, this is very painful to witness.”

The former SRSG noted however, that the crisis was an opportunity from which South Sudan could make a fresh start, if its political leaders put the country and its people first.

“By 10 August, the parties have promised to agree on the formation of a transitional government of national unity,” she said. “I hope they will agree to put a team in charge that can deliver on such a reform agenda… This is up to the SPLM (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement) leadership – on all sides of this conflict.”