23 April 2014- The UN could no longer operate in “business-as-usual” mode in South Sudan given the surging violence in the country, Under-Secretary-General for UN Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous said in New York today.

“We are not and cannot be in a business as usual format,” Mr. Ladsous told reporters following a two-hour closed-door briefing to the Security Council on the wave of “terrible violence” that had erupted in the country over the last 10 days.

“The attack on the UN compound last Thursday and killing of civilians within it denotes a serious escalation,” he said. “It creates an extremely dangerous precedent and cannot happen again.”

The peacekeeping chief emphasized that while the UN was doing everything possible to protect civilians fleeing violence, the South Sudanese government has the primary responsibility for such protection.

Mr. Ladsous said although it was clear that the ongoing violence is unacceptable and must stop immediately, neither government nor opposition forces appeared ready to cease hostilities.

The ceasefire, which was signed three months ago “has never been implemented (and) neither side has given any indication that they will seriously participate in the peace talks facilitated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), he said.

He said the UN would continue to support the talks so as to revive the IGAD mediation process, which he also described as “the only game in town”. It is expected that the talks, which were postponed earlier this week, will resume later this month.

“Unless there are serious consequences for the parties to ease the violence and engage seriously in talks, the toll on civilians will continue to rise,” said Mr. Ladsous. “This is unacceptable, especially as the rainy season is about to begin in earnest. If the violence does not cease, a humanitarian catastrophe is all but certain.”

Asked to elaborate on “serious consequences”, the Under Secretary-General said such decisions would be made by the Security Council.

He added that in the meantime, UNMISS would continue to focus on its core priorities of protecting civilians, protecting human rights, supporting the IGAD mediation and supporting humanitarian access.

Mr. Ladsous noted, however, that UN operations were being hampered by continued violations of the UN Status of Forces Agreement with South Sudan.

“The mission is being impeded from movement and in many other ways (kept) from doing our jobs,” he said. “This is something the Council is very much aware of.”