Artistic Gymnastics – Preliminary – Men’s Qualification – Subdivisions – Rio Olympic Arena – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 06/08/2016 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives at the gymnastics venue. REUTERS/Mike Blake
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and counterparts from eight African nations meet in Nairobi on Monday to discuss ways to prevent South Sudan from sliding back into civil war and advance a political transition in Somalia.
Kerry arrived in the Kenyan capital late on Sunday – after a two-week summer break – for his second trip as secretary of state to Nairobi since May 2015.
On Tuesday, he travels to Sokoto, Nigeria, the historic Muslim city in the remote northwest, followed by talks with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
“We will … talk about how we move forward in trying to implement peace in this country,” a senior State Department official said of South Sudan.
“The people of South Sudan have suffered for far too long, and the continued instability there has led almost a million refugees and a humanitarian crisis that is far beyond the abilities of even the international community to respond to,” the official told a conference call.
The international community has poured billions of aid into supporting the world’s youngest nation, which gained independence in 2011. Oil production, by far the biggest source of government revenue, has plummeted.