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THE statistics speak for themselves: an estimated 400,000 dead, 4.5 million displaced, seven million said to be in need of aid. As South Sudan marks five years of war December 15, there is no question that the conflict has exacted an enormous human cost.

As the war enters its sixth year Sunday only the most optimistic of observers is voicing much hope that the revitalised peace agreement, signed in September by President Salva Kiir and his former rival and soon-to-be vice president (again) Riek Machar, will hold for very long.

Regardless, it hasn’t brought an end to the violence, the hunger, and the need for broad-based reconciliation.