large swath of the tourist area here in what is the country music capital of the united states. and let's take you through some of the headlines here in al-jazeera now the central african republic will go ahead with sunday's presidential election as planned despite fears over the spread of violence the constitutional court ruled unanimously after a request by opposition candidates to postpone the vote catherine sawyer has more from. the constitutional judges made this. behind me and they say that the petition did not have strong enough grounds to have the election. so what this means is that as you mentioned the election is going to go on tomorrow wherever it can we have spoken to u.n. officials say 70 percent of the country think enough people to come out vote

ethiopia's human rights commission says a total of $207.00 people were killed on wednesday double the initial figure what was described as a law enforcement operation by the prime minister is turning into a conflict possibly killing thousands turkey's defense minister has arrived in libya despite threats by eastern warlords after a car from is to increase cooperation with the internationally recognized government in tripoli on friday ankara voted to extend the deployment of troops or for another 18 months or will be for half the banks arrival eastern government responded with a threat to target local turkish rather forces. countries across europe are receiving their 1st shipments of corona virus vaccine inoculation stance in some places on sunday beginning with people an elderly homes. a huge number of

americans have boarded flights to be with family for christmas despite warnings that travel will only worsen already alarming coronavirus deaths and infection rates more than 7000000 people cast through u.s. airports over the past week bringing families together from states with varying degrees of infections likely to increase in cases similar rush during november's thanksgiving holidays being blamed for fueling the current spike the city of nashville is under a curfew after a motor home exploded in a neighborhood on friday it blew up early on christmas morning after a recorded bomb warning was played several buildings were damaged 3 people were injured haven't been able to establish a motive it's inside story now. has

the world ignored south sudan the countries facing the stream hunger and aid agencies are warning of dire consequences if violence carries on so what can be done to save africa's youngest country this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program. humanitarian groups are warning 60 percent of south sudan's population with face catastrophic famine by the middle of next year

that if a can't reach areas affected by floods violence and the pandemic a joint trip or by 3 u.n. agencies 6 and a half 1000000 people in the region are facing starvation and that number could rise by almost a 1000000 by july aid agencies blame the worsening situation on violence that's made it impossible to produce food and dangerous and difficult to deliver last month the u.n. released $7000000.00 in emergency funding to try to avert famine the country is still struggling to emerge from a 6 year civil war that killed tens of thousands of people. we'll bring in our guests shortly but 1st let's take a look at the history of africa's youngest country in july 2011 south sudan gained independence from sudan but war broke out 2 years later when president salva kiir accuse his former deputy and former rebel leader regular charge of plotting

a coup the fighting killed about $400000.00 people and displaced millions ceasefire was signed in generate a $1014.00 but was violated several times and further talks failed to and the violence in september 2018 kira agreed to set up a unity government with machar but that was delayed as they try to resolve our standing disputes in february the pair finally formed a unity government declared and and to the civil war. joining me now are our guests in georgia matthew hollingworth south sudan country director for the world food program in oxford douglas johnson former member of the boundary commission and author of south sudan in your history for a new nation also enjoy over jeffords you security analyst and director of the

south sudan action network on small arms while come to your matthew united nations agencies have been saying for quite some time that areas in south sudan are on the brink of famine how well the response didn't really match with the magnitude of the problem why's that. i think. hello to everybody i sadly i think we've been warning for a number of months now most of this year that the tribulation of national subnational and localized conflict in the country married to a 2nd year of unprecedented flooding has meant that this country is now facing food insecurity of a scale that it has not faced before more than 7 and a half or more or less than a half 1000000 people expected to need food assistance by the lean season of 2021

is an unprecedented level and what we have been struggling to do is to reach areas of the country where the most vulnerable are living primarily because of conflict earlier in this year and then by floods when the conflict waged we've also been struggling to get the kinds of resources we need to give people a full ration to help them get on their feet and to help them rebuild their lives after times of conflict and not a disaster when you add to that this year's economic collapse which is also largely due to trade with 19 the impact of that but also diminishing oil reserves or oil resources and you've got a recipe for a food security disaster in south sudan douglas you have climate change you have filers who have instability and this is a remembering reminder for a nation that about 9 years ago was rising hopes among the international community

of that it could become a vibrant new democracy in the african continent what do you think has been completely wrong with the station this is reminds me of my own time working with more of her program during the operation might find sudan where we've had a similar. simoneau periods where there have been extreme fighting. hand demick. epidemic pandemic diseases this actually among livestock. also fire fight enough factional fighting so it's 2 things i think are important to think about or to suggest in this current problem is that one there's been a failure of governance and part of that failure is the inability to create a disciplined national army a lot of the fighting and this impression of civilians which is prevented

cultivation or kolo prevented harvest has been down to elements of the sudan people south sudan defense force rampaging through civilian areas and also in opposition with armed groups who are either there to protect themselves or to take advantage of chaos so that's a failure of governance and that's a failure of the current government and we shouldn't make any excuses for them this is something that should have been. attempted and should have been set up with discipline national army a long time ago as far as the other problems. the area of john lay for instance is been an area that has experienced extreme floods before that over into it with communication networks etc but you know there are also

other areas that oh usually very have high production that immune system to buy the fighting also there has been a failure of the governor to provide. no communication networks remote networks the sorts of things that are needed to know right suppliers to from one post to another let me go to jeffrey and joe about jeffrey why is the government in a way or another not willing to recognize the scale of the famine in the country well i wouldn't enter into the politics of declare it's an unfair move to a country. but. for those who want to know whether people are starving or not. you can visit where it is communities live and speak to them directly because. i don't want it to be a jiffy declaring them in south sudan or it is in cities but let's.

recognize that them in that might be longing. is is a product of displacement and that this sort of displacement is not new to south sudan it was there even before the treaty that team civil war. we'd see it is something around intercommunal balance in the absence of state security communities get up tight and it's simply bend and in these cycle of bends. which often is the money fast in form of let's kill violence and use of military style weapons that fox and. you know. but it's just looking for their survival but not you know

growing crops as done in other parts of the world and jungle is that is notorious for so that's a function of into communal violence. matthew the government did not indorse they the famine review committee's report that was released this month by the integrated for security phase classification is the government trying to say this has been blown 'd out of proportion by the international aid agencies and. i think there is consensus as you know between the famine review committee which is an independent group of experts and the can be called in to look at data when there isn't consensus of the country level and they haven't agreed with that but i think it's more important to look at what has been agreed there is consensus on the 7240000 people who are in severe a pig. certain security there is consensus on that there is consensus that there are 5 or 6 locations in the country we gets

a famine there isn't consensus on this scale of that like you would have found in or risk of. but there is consensus on the account the fact there is a very significant price so that we need to respond if we are to prevent what would be a full blown famine we're not talking about declaring a full blown found stage but we're talking about the likelihood of famine and the risk of famine and what we can do to respond to just stop it in its tracks and that in itself is not. easy and you've heard why from from the other panelists aryans all in south sudan is a country 2 and a half times the size of the of the united kingdom there's 200 kilometers of paved roads in the whole country this is an incredibly difficult country to move around when this peace it's an incredibly difficult country to move things around when there are natural disasters to approach and we have east and some of these

locations this year and we've been facing up to them i mean it's. and all of the complexities that i've been 19 thrown up in terms of of supply chain interruption you've got communities that did not or could not cultivate land this year because of fighting communities that lost their harvests to flooding you've got communities that lost their cattle and the sheep and their goats to flooding and so you've got you know like i said this recipe for disaster and that we are going to need to respond and the politics aside that's already going to be very complicated it will be impossible unless there is stability and peace in those areas so i agree that that's such an important aspect asked to be an understanding that the weapons need to be put down so that humanitarian aid and development is i'm base building where

there's going to get on with their job on bringing communities together electing communities and trying to give them the livelihood that will give them. douglas for the time being the international community has been putting more pressure when all the parties in south sudan to set aside their differences rein in violence and allow the aid agencies to operate on the ground you look at the hard hit areas further expand into words what are the jungly of norther buttle has the states we're talking about the situation there could easily spin out of control and become a full blown famine you want yes i mean this is one part everybody is trying to prevent and i don't i honestly don't understand the reluctance of the current government or even some of the opposition groups who are refusing to recognize that . i just remember what we used to do in operation might

find sudan and and know if you can get access to some of the reports from our home 2220 or so years ago you see one assume or support that time during a war situation will earn environmental disasters. contributed to it. and so again i do not understand some of the people who are involved in the government were very much involved in the operation lifeline sudan episodes negotiating with the un with world food programme and various other. agencies so they have the experience how to deal with these combination of disasters they have that background and experience and it's something that the they should be able to draw on to prevent this fire in our control as you say jeffrey when you look at what is happening on the ground the u.n.

is saying that it's patrols are now in place to monitor areas like moneyball they will go. your way and the white and that's where the tension between the communities has been on the rise with that be on its own enough to contain the crisis and rein in the tension which has been. going up. i think the crisis. might be centered in those areas but it has to be you know not. focused like the whole of jungle or state because this community is how big wrecking balance against each other. across it's not only the communities. in the us went in a terrorist attack in people or you know the grid up in boredom sets of i didn't

read it where is the is is hardly heat but. you know double tragedy of both violence and flat so up out said the focus needs to be didn't post it and of and of course being the. hard he'd intercommunal violence the governments to. really focus on quickly dominating violence that by way of of us a dead thing in existence and of some cease fire of some sort of communities because we have to not that good peace agreement and do not have any frame up a ceasefire among communities but that's why we see much as you know violence between and among the parties of the peace agreement that has dramatically gone down they documented violence has persisted throughout so it has to begin by

negotiating some sort of cease fire and there. within that you know cover exist on the sort of access for humanitarian you know activists and then another dialogue segment focusing on addressing the real root causes of these into communal violence and of course one of it easy the culture of impunity. well you know it and you can organize and good to have every community and to read balanced and come back to the whole and see it without any fear of what kind of beauty or any sort of justice and that has to stop and so on big government and you know these actors need to negotiate that sort of arrangement all right matthew the world food program says it needs something like almost $500000000.00 over the next 6 months to be able to cope with the magnitude of this. disaster now do you think the international community is expressing and up a tie to step in against

a backdrop of what we're seeing on the ground. i mean i think we have enormously generous donors member states that have stood by south sudan when it was southern sudan during the operation lifeline program that was referred to earlier and since independence in 2011 and those those member states are still wanting to see a successful country but he continued to grow to be prosperous to be peaceful and if they can see if those donors can see that this country is going to be stable and that unity will maintain they'll continue to support but i fear that if they see that they're going to be throwing good money after bad they want i mean i think it's really important just following on from from the last question that i mean in areas like the greater people are going to sort of area in greater jungle

estates these are areas where you know the dialogue side of things has been going and fits and starts for many years conflict she is on recurring and it's that persistent and recurring conflict that is part of the cause of what we're seeing the catastrophic food insecurity in areas that we're seeing not just in jungle a state this year that's that has to change but the importance for people living in those areas course is that i mean frankly you can't eat you know you can't live after those families those communities any jobs and those families those communities they need a livelihood they need to be connected to market so that they can actually access the the sort of basic staples which are available in other parts of the country that are less remote now but without sort of that service to the basic services to market forces i mean you know you're going to see it in tin you ation of the prices

is as was rightly said without dealing. are always in the deprivation marginalization of some of these without dealing with that sadly it's going to be more assistance of it is going to be provoked me and the last element that's that's the equation we need to turn on its head let's talk about that particular equation and then we go to the douglas douglas let's face it one of the biggest problems here is the huge differences between silva and erik machar do you think that we will be able in the near future to convince these 2 rivals to set aside their differences move forward turn a chapter pave the way for stability and peace in south sudan. well i know that people have been trying to persuade them to put aside their differences and. know has been a feeling of broadly within the country and outside of the country that actually

both men have have a long run in the history of south sudan in governance in one way or another and if they both agreed to an honorable retirement and alone and other people to i'm a forward to being to deal with these problems that might be the beginning of a real sense of not just don't know i'm trying to tackle the problems. and the divorce them from from. us through to move on from the problems that occur were created within the or ocean struck. i would just like to say that. what matthew service is quite true about the importance of markets and livelihood and i would point out that there are signs within your own different civilian

groups that are trying to not just foster dialogue to change the equation between the communities they're small they need support they need recognition but there is something there within the civilian population john lennon and how the parts of subs and individuals and groups that are willing to try to. carve out a new path and change the deep patterns of the servants and destruction ok jeffrey we've been talking about the unity government one of the key components of that deal was basically the security a range of events you need to have a professional army of that brings about stability and security how can you achieve that when the country is divided along ethnic tribal lines. well it is. definitely unrealistic to expect people who are

who have been you know on each other starts to come together very soon. after you know their last battle and then form a commutative and that's a me. but it is definitely. something that has to be a long term goal because we need you know some sort of needs an army that reflects its don't brush at the end that you know i can't be disproven and etc but the problem here is that the parties tend to use you know want the easy of you know graduating do national business or unify for us to have empirically sit for 4 for progress in implementing some of the peace agreement if then you soused that does not require the necessary unified forest not being

implemented for example for example just you not just appointing the. the officers not the department you know the governor of the pretty governor's commission as in the sector which does not require you know of. a unified force is not being dense so this reason is that the question of their willingness of the parties to see i'm going to amend a piece that it be sacrament let me go to matthew matthew this is going to be my last question in less than a minute if your daughter mind now this is the dry season when people would be moving from one area to another. towards sources of water how we are your concern of this particular juncture. i mean the last time i was in people was in october and it was still covered in water and then in december i traveled to other parts of or great people as well as to other parts jungle and whatever community respects here and these are communities that were the term used before were at each other's

throats previously and i heard the same story their greatest fear is the moment their the land starts to dry that there will be more fighting and that fighting will happen not just the political reduced or not at because of political reasons but because of necessity they will need to find ways to. raise other capital to bring capital back because they lost so many cattle in the floods in the previous i'd say what we mustn't allow is the deprivation to kick off another round of fighting and to be manipulated into something more political and something greater thank you so it's are wrong to continue the relief act or ations that we've already been started and we've already been working throughout the whole period but to gear it up and raise our game because i mean food assistance people out but their future their future relies on east and the peace relies on this differently and the

politically of communities to feed themselves look after themselves and meet their basic needs to know how to live with them matthew worth douglas chance and jeffrey i really appreciate your insight thank you and thank you for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website dot com for further discussion got our facebook page that's facebook dot com for was last a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter i'll handle his at a.j. it's a story from the hashemite of our own the entire team here in doha by phone or. discover kazakstan that as a new strategic location at the crossroads of europe and asia. develop and grow your business. in the leading logistics trade the business harbors in 1st

in a country with a great business climate robust legal system a tax regime and advantageous investment incentives employ a well educated highly skilled and multi-lingual workforce. by investing in kazakstan you invest in the largest economy of the region where the growth and prosperity of your business will always be our key priority. invest in kazakstan seize the best opportunities in the heart of your asia.

understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the world and so now to halle take it we'll bring you the news and current affairs that matter to you. pete over here in doha your top stories on al-jazeera the central african republic will go ahead with sunday's presidential election as planned despite fears over the spread of violence the constitutional court has in the last hour or so ruled unanimously after a request by opposition candidates to perspire in the vote catherine so it's in the capital she says despite being determined to vote people are not sure about their safety judges the constitutional judges made this unanimous decision in the courtroom behind me and they fade that the petition did not have strong enough.