Working together to improve security and build peace in the capital of South Sudan was the primary focus of a meeting held between the Head of the United Nations Mission and the acting Governor of Jubek State.

David Shearer, who is the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, met with Governor Francis Lation Michael in Juba to discuss ways the UN and government can cooperate to improve the lives of residents affected by ongoing fighting and the dire economic situation.

He said the deployment of UN peacekeepers as part of a 4,000-strong Regional Protection Force (RPF) will help with the effective implementation of the Mission’s mandate to protect civilians and help build durable peace in South Sudan.    

The RPF was mandated by the UN Security Council following renewed fighting in the capital in July 2016 to protect key facilities and facilitate safe and free movement into, out of, and around Juba.

The UNMISS chief said the presence of the RPF in Juba and surrounding areas will help deter violence and enable the UN to carry out patrols along insecure roads where there have been a number of attacks. The arrival of more troops will also allow the redeployment of UNMISS peacekeepers to other volatile locations across the country, he said.

Speaking at the meeting where a range of ministers were present, David Shearer said providing greater security on roads would help boost the economy as traders would be able to safely transport their goods.

“We hope that the RPF will be able to provide security to Juba as it is supposed to do under the Security Council mandate and it will free up other forces and other troops to be in this area in Central Equatoria,” he said.

“If we can do that then we can help bring peace to the people, and it will also help secure the roads so that we have trading going up and down the road so that the movements of traders will be secured.”

David Shearer said that UNMISS engineers were also helping build and rehabilitate main supply routes connecting Juba to other parts of the country - an economic lifeline for South Sudan.

“Trade builds the economy and the economy builds jobs so that will help the situation,” he said. 

Following the meeting, the head of UNMISS visited Rafaj on the outskirts of Juba where hundreds of people who fled their villages because of violence are now living.

“People in Rajaf are suffering the insecurity that everyone in South Sudan is feeling. They have had their cattle stolen, the women have been raped by men with guns, women can’t go out in the fields anymore,” said David Shearer. 

While security is “primarily the responsibility of the government”, he said that UNMISS was ready and committed to “support the government by making those conditions right for people to go back” to their own communities.

David Shearer said that he was hopeful that peace would return so that internally displaced people in Rajaf, as well as some 35,000 civilians who have sought refuge in UN protection sites next to the UN base in Juba, will return to their homes to live safely and with dignity.