UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
Sandra Martinez is no stranger to armed conflict, growing up in historic Santander, a region tucked away in the northeastern part of Colombia, close to the Venezuelan border.
News
Sandra Martinez from Colombia is an international UN Volunteer serving with UNMISS in Bor, South Sudan, as a Human Rights Officer.
On 9 September 2020, UNMISS hosted a forum to advance mediation and reconciliation across Jonglei and the greater Pibor administrative area. This comes in the wake of ongoing violence in recent months across the state that has led to some 600 people being killed and numerous others displaced.
On 4 September 2020, UNMISS handed over solar-powered radios to 500 families in Western Equatoria. The objective is to ensure that children have access to school lessons being broadcast twice daily on Radio Miraya, following extended closure of educational institutions across South Sudan due to COVID-19.
Political violence has reduced significantly across South Sudan in the wake of a peace deal and formation of a new Government. As a result, UNMISS has begun to progressively withdraw its troops and police from the PoC sites in Bor and Wau and will gradually do the same at other camps.
UNMISS and development partners recently rehabilitated and handed over a 16-room facility intended to serve as a fully equipped isolation centre for possible coronavirus cases to local authorities in Yambio, Western Equatoria.
UNMISS and local implementing partner Ateker Foundation-South Sudan hand over the first secondary school in Kuron, Eastern Equatoria. The construction of the school block was funded by the mission's Quick Impact Projects programme.
UNPOL officers deployed to Eastern Equatoria participate in a monthly rule of law forum organised by the United Nations Development Programme in Torit, South Sudan.
On 27 August 2020, UNMISS handed over a courthouse constructed under its Quick Impact Projects programme to authorities in Maper, Northern Bahr el Ghazal. The project was implemented by local partner, Support for Peace, Education and Development Project (SPEDP).