A/HRC/43/56 and water when they go to fight. 193 Following clashes between Lou Nuer sub-clans, the White Army replenished its gojam (select fighters from among its ranks) to maintain peace in Akobo Town in 2018.194 The gojam wear uniforms and carry arms to protect civilians. Youth reported to the Commission that they obtain arms by recovering them during battle or bartering with SSPDF soldiers based in Waat for cattle. Indeed, the Commission documented the widespread circulation of arms among the youth, including arms registered to the NSS Internal Security Bureau. 34. Witnesses expressed concerns that men were disproportionately targeted for killing during these incidents.195 On the other hand, women, girls and boys were more likely to fall victim to abduction. 35. Towards the middle of the year, several measures were introduced to restore peace to the region. Speaking out against the resurgence in violence within their communities, women’s associations condemned cattle raiding, kidnapping of children, road robberies and fighting between youth in Greater Jonglei on 7 May 2019.196 In Spring 2019, the White Army planned a revenge attack in response to the November 2018 incident in Lokomai but after intervention from the Chairman of the SPLA-IO, Dr. Riek Machar, who reportedly encouraged them to allow the national peace process to address their concerns, they decided to abandon their mission and return home. 197 On 7 and 8 August 2019, the InterCommunal Peace Dialogue among the Dinka, Lou Nuer and Murle of Jonglei introduced a Joint Peace Committee to report incidents of community-based violence.198 36. Nevertheless, despite the peace conference, the Commission received information that attacks continued into late November 2019 when armed Murle elements reportedly killed at least one individual and looted cattle.199 Several witnesses interviewed by the Commission, including children, indicated a high-ranking Government official organized members of the Murle community and provided them with arms.200 As one member of the Lou Nuer community told the Commission, “The issues between the Murle and the Lou Nuer . . . are not political in the sense that the Murle attack us and capture towns, but it is political in the sense that political actors are involved in influencing groups that raid cattle, abduct and kill our people. The Murle and Dinka Bor are with the Government and we are with the SPLA-IO.”201 III. Starvation 37. Millions of South Sudanese women, men and children continued to face acute food insecurity and do not know where their next meal will come from. During the reporting period, some 6.35 million individuals comprising 54 per cent of the population were classified as ‘in Crisis’ or worse ‘acute food insecurity’. 202 The Greater Upper Nile region is currently the most food insecure, followed by the Bahr el Ghazal region. 203 In 2019, the Human Development Index, which measures basic dimensions of human development, 193 ERN 103234 - 103239, para. 15. ERN 103353 - 103356; ERN 102913 - 102917, para 18. 195 ERN 102913 - 102917; ERN 102918 - 102924. 196 Confidential documents on file. 197 ERN 103399 - 103406, para. 19. 198 ERN D120814 - D120815. 199 ERN 103371 - 103376, para. 11; ERN 103377 - 103382, para 10; 102913 - 102917, para. 19. 200 ERN 103336 - 103340; ERN 103341 - 103344; ERN 103389 - 103394; ERN 103413 - 103419; ERN 103259 - 103263; ERN 103445 - 103448; and ERN 103383 - 103388. 201 ERN 103377 - 103382, para. 8. 202 South Sudan: IPC Acute Food Security Snapshot August 2019 – April 2020, FAO, available at http://www.fao.org/in-action/kore/news-and-events/news-details/en/c/1208338. 203 More than half the country struggles to survive despite improving conditions in South Sudan, FAO, 11 September 2019, available at http://www.fao.org/south-sudan/news/detailevents/en/c/1207694. 194 34