The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and officials from the Jubek State Government have reaffirmed their commitment towards working together to achieve a durable peace in South Sudan.

“I expect we will work together as friends and colleagues. We are partners, and we are here to build the peace and development of South Sudan,” said Geetha Pious, the Head of UNMISS Field Office in Juba, during a one-day workshop with Jubek State officials.

The workshop aimed to create a positive working relationship between the government of South Sudan and UNMISS to foster support for the country’s recently revitalized peace agreement.

Jubek State officials and UNMISS personnel also addressed the key issue of violations of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which allows for the United Nations’ freedom of movement across the country. These violations have repeatedly hampered the efforts of UNMISS to access remote locations to reach the people of South Sudan and build confidence amongst the local population.

To address this issue, the workshop outlined the substance of Security Council Resolutions and the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), to ensure that officials and UNMISS personnel alike have a clear understanding of the agreements under which the peacekeeping mission operates.

“If we restrict the movement of members of UNMISS here or if we harass them, it will be termed as a violation. If we arrest UNMISS national or international staff without informing them, it will be a violation,” Mr. Sabino Edward, Minister for Plenipotentiary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, acknowledging a clear understanding of the agreement.

The number of SOFA violations in previous years prompted the United Nations Security Council in New York to condemn any and all violations in its most recent Resolution on South Sudan (UNSCR 2406) adopted in March.

Since June 2018, the peacekeeping mission has reported 52 SOFA violations by the Government and its agents across the country, which does not include violations attributed to the SPLA i/O and other armed opposition groups, as the agreement is strictly between the government and the United Nations.

UNMISS has witnessed a decline in the number of recorded SOFA violations, as compared to the previous years, which is a hopeful sign. The workshop aimed to sensitize officials on the contents of the SOFA to further reduce the number of violations.

Honorable Isaac Ribek, Jubek State Minister of Local Government, recognized the key role that armed forces have to play in ensuring that the agreement is upheld.

“All the organized forces here, I hope the message will go to your people on ground. Commanders, please translate very clear, if there is any problem with UNMISS, it is a South Sudanese problem,” he said.

The participants of the workshop also discussed the crucial concern of protection of civilians, recognizing that while the peacekeeping mission is indeed mandated to protect civilians, it is first and foremost the role of the South Sudanese government.

“Commissioners are the chairpersons of security at county level. We shall be able to execute lessons learned in regard to the security of the civilians,” Honorable Colonel Samuel Lemi Yoseke, the commissioner of Wunduruba county, stated.

Moving forward, Geetha Pious, the Head of UNMISS Field Office in Juba, is hopeful that the lessons learned from the workshop will reduce the number of incidents where UNMISS convoys are prevented from passing certain checkpoints across the country.  

“I will love to see smiling faces at the check point,” she said.

With a renewed understanding of the binding documents constituting the role of the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, UNMISS personnel and government officials can now cooperate more effectively to build a durable peace in the country.