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The Head of UN Mission in South Sudan, David Shearer, is on a two-day visit to Bentiu and Leer to assess the general situation on the ground.

This is his second field visit outside Juba since he arrived at UNMISS in January 2017, after a combined trip to Wau and Rumbek. In Bentiu, Mr. Shearer met with the State Governor and discussed various issues, including the return of people from the Bentiu protection of civilian site to their homes ahead of the planting season.

The top authority in Bentiu, Joseph Nguen Monytuil explained what they discussed in the meeting.

 “We shed light on many aspects of the UNMISS mandate in South Sudan regarding the supporting of peace and giving free access to NGOS to reach the needy people where they are. We also touched on the challenges that we are facing here. So it was a very fruitful meeting and we are looking forward to the continuation of our cooperation and coordination with UNMISS.”

The UNMISS chief says the discussion with the governor focused on the cooperation between UNMISS and the state government.

 “The Governor pointed out some of the problems and issues they have here in terms of infrastructure. He was responsible for most of the infrastructure in the previous years when he was governor, and now he was especially seeking support for the development of roads. We looked at how we can try to encourage people and give them a sense of physical security and economic security and start moving to their homes. So we will be working closely together and I thanked him for his cooperation in supporting UNMISS.”

CLIP