JUBA – Activist Ter Manyang Gatwech recently issued a “strong appeal” to the United Nations, calling for the exclusion of South Sudan’s official delegation from attending the upcoming United Nations General Assembly scheduled for September 21, 2025. But is it actually possible?
Vice President for Service Cluster Josephine Lagu will lead South Sudan’s delegation to the 80th session of the UNGA in New York, scheduled for Sept. 23–29, the government announced on September 2.
In his statement on Tuesday, Activist Ter Manyang criticized the Government of South Sudan for what he regarded as its failure to fulfill the commitments laid out in the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
He emphasized that the government’s inaction continues to fuel instability, human rights violations, and economic hardship across the country.
“Half of our population is either living as refugees in neighboring countries or internally displaced within South Sudan. The entire nation is facing extreme poverty, while political leaders remain detached from the daily suffering of the people,” said Manyang.
He further condemned the ongoing detention of political figures, calling it a violation of the spirit and principles of the R-ARCSS. According to Manyang, such actions undermine the very foundation of peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts.
“Allowing this delegation to attend the UN General Assembly is not only a misrepresentation of the people of South Sudan but also a waste of international resources—especially at a time when civil servants have gone without salaries for over 36 months,” he added.
Ter Manyang urged the international community, particularly the United Nations Secretary-General, to take a firm stance in support of the South Sudanese people by refusing to grant the current delegation access to the UNGA platform.
“The people of South Sudan deserve durable peace, not diplomatic representation that does not reflect their suffering or aspirations. The international community must stand with the people, not with those who perpetuate their misery,” he concluded.
However, Manyang’s argument is not sufficient enough to bar South Sudan from the UN meeting. The General Assembly cannot bar a nation from attending it in the sense of denying its representative participation, as all 193 member states are to be represented.
However, the UN General Assembly can suspend a country’s delegation, as it did with South Africa in the 1960s, or deny it the automatic inheritance of a previous seat, as it did with Serbia and Montenegro in the 1990s. It can also censure states for violating the UN Charter or take other actions against member states.
In recent weeks, the Trump Administration has suspended nearly all types of nonimmigrant visas for Palestinian passport holders after denying and revoking the visas for Palestinian officials travelling to the U.S. for the General Assembly, according to the New York Times.
Palestinian passport holders—whether from Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, or elsewhere—will be impacted by the new measures, which come as a growing number of countries have condemned Israel’s ongoing military bombardment of Gaza which humanitarian and human rights groups have described as a genocide.