Head Of UN Peace Keeping Operation Concludes Visits To South Sudan

Hervé Ladsous,Under-Secretary-General in charge of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations speaking to Journalists in Juba. [Photo| Jok P. Mayom]

By Jok P Mayom

JUBA, 14 June 2016 [Gurtong]- The Head of the United Nation Peace Keeping Operation also the Under Secretary General for the UN Herve Ladsous concluded his visit to South Sudan on Monday.

Ladsous said his three day visit was simply a reflection that the coming into operation of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) in South Sudan equates the opening of a new page in the situation of the country.

He told the reporters at the United Nation conference hall before his take off that his visit was to evaluate the situation and listen to South Sudanese actors.

“I also wanted to see for myself the situation on the ground, and yesterday [Sunday] and the day before [Saturday] we went to Bentiu and then to Malakal to see the situation there and evaluate in particular of the Protection of Civilians sites and the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)” he said.

Mr. Ladous on Monday morning met with the Vice President, the First Vice president and with the President himself.

 “…a new page is opening now for South Sudan with this government of transition that has announced a number of measures that are of course very important regarding what is going to happen now” said Ladous.

He said there are very large numbers of priorities for the country to address including stability and security, the situation of the IDPs, economic issues and the humanitarian situation.

“On all of these issues, it was very important to listen to our South Sudanese interlocutors with one very important message; it is that the responsibilities are theirs, but that the UN is here to help.

“We are not there to substitute, the decisions have to be made by the South Sudanese themselves, but we are in support” said Ladous.

The UN undersecretary underscored the fact that the Security Council remains very focused on South Sudan after all these years in which they have invested a very large amount of political capital but also resources in terms of staff and sometimes unfortunately in terms of human lives.

“We want to see the country moving ahead, addressing all those critical problems, and move as quickly as possible to the rapid implementation of decisions that were already taken, so people get a sense that the peace agreement is providing them with peace dividends,” he said.

“In Bentiu, it is very interesting to see that in the last three to four months some 25,000 IDPs have decided to return to their place of origin. The same to a certain extent in Bor.”

“In Malakal the situation locally is still a very complex one, a fragile one, so people are still hesitant as what they may want to do, but it is my very sincere hope that with the improvement of the security situation, people will indeed start to move back to where they belong, and resume their normal activities”.

“….. We remain very attentive to human rights and similar issues, but we are taking a positive view. Again, a new page has opened and the relationship of the United Nations with South Sudan similarly is now on a new footing”

“More generally, we intend to remain as proactive as possible when we have a specific situation, and both our military and police components will do all they can to support what is the core of our mandate, the protection of civilians.”

He emphasised that the UN Mission in South Sudan are and will continue to their utmost to support the Ceasefire Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM) whose job is to report on the violations of the ceasefire.