The United Nations Security Council meets in New York on Tuesday to discuss South Sudan, six weeks before the country’s first national elections since independence, according to UN News. The meeting comes amid political uncertainty and rising violence.
UN News said ambassadors are expected to urge a process that includes all sides and elections that can be trusted. It said civilians are bearing the brunt of fighting, hunger and displacement.
The elections are set for Dec. 22. South Sudan became independent in 2011, and these would be its first national elections since then.
In September, UN News said, President Salva Kiir ended the transitional government and dismissed every vice-president. Riek Machar, who is detained, was among those removed.
Violence has also continued. UN News said clashes in Upper Nile state have displaced more than 35,000 people. Three peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in Jonglei in August.
Hunger is also severe. According to UN News, 2.5 million people face emergency hunger, and 73,300 face catastrophe.
The source did not say what the Security Council is expected to decide at the meeting, who will brief it, or what time it begins.