UN, C. Equatoria State government to register IDPs

IDPs at Juba POCs [Photo: UNMISS]

The United Nations and South Sudan's Central Equatoria State government have agreed to conduct widespread registration of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) residing in the UN Protection of Civilian sites. (POCs), across the state.

Wayi Godwill, the state cabinet affairs minister, revealed this after meeting with UN officials including, Robert Piper, the United Nations advisor to the Secretary-General at the state secretariat on Wednesday.

He pointed out that registration will reveal the exact number of IDPs, find out if the homes they fled from are safe or occupied by other people, and support repatriation efforts. 

"The advisor to the UN Secretary-General came to discuss with the governor the way forward because the people were accommodated at the POC due to insecurity that engulfed the country," Godwill said. "Now with the dawn of peace, this is one of the efforts that is meant to ensure that people who are in the POCs get back to their homes."  

For his part, Robert Piper, the UN advisor to the Secretary-General, said the state has more than 3,000 IDPs, some of whom live in deplorable conditions. 

"The state has more than 3,000 internally displaced persons some of them are in very difficult conditions. His Excellency the governor shared with me his strategies for addressing this," he said. "I outlined the support of the United Nations in making this happen. Too many people too long have been in displacement. Some of them from different parts of the state."

Piper was accompanied by officials from the International Organization for Immigration (IOM) and UNMISS.