Sam Mednick is a freelance journalist and the South Sudan correspondent for The Associated Press. She covers conflict, post-conflict, and development and has written for VICE, the Guardian, Devex, and News Deeply, among others.
Herto Hamrash Minut, 74, sits outside his house on Sinjar Mountain, where he lives with his two wives and 12 children. Four years ago, he was kidnapped and tortured by the Islamic State for eight months. (Sam Mednick for Foreign Policy)
An Ethiopian U.N. peacekeeper patrols the Amiet Market in Abyei. The market has become the largest trading hub in the region and a symbol of peace between the Misseriya nomads from Sudan and the Ngok Dinka from South Sudan. Local leaders use the market to resolve issues of conflict and are working together to bring stability to the area, which has been contested for more than ten years.
