Visiting the Jonglei State capital Bor today, the top UN Field Support official commended the state government for the various initiatives in place to ensure peace, stability and development.

Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Field Support, Atul Khare, made the remarks during a meeting with State Governor John Kong Nyuon and members of his cabinet.

He listed the reopening of Dr. John Garang University of Technology in Bor, as well as agriculture and wildlife services, as some of the laudable initiatives.

Mr. Nyuon informed the USG noted that the state was the largest in South Sudan and one of those which were worst affected, following the conflict that erupted in the country in December 2013.

“The state has suffered much because of destruction of properties, displacement and loss of lives with people crossing all the way to Lakes State,” he said. “Now the situation has normalized, although people are still displaced.”

The State Governor said he hoped that with the signing of the peace agreement and its implementation, people would start to return home.

Mr. Nyuon however expressed concern that when the displaced people returned home, they would need support in the form of food and non-food items, as well as other services to enable them to resettle.

He noted that the states itself also required support in areas like road construction and rehabilitation, as well as capacity building for the organized armed forces.

“I hope the (UNMISS) mandate will changed as the implementation of the peace deal commences to ensure capacity building activities resume,” said the State Governor.

Responding to questions and requests from the cabinet members, Mr. Khare stressed that the UN could only provide assistance, but “the primary responsibility for infrastructural development belongs to the national Government”.

The USG however pledged that the UN would look into assisting wherever possible, but also noted that there were other challenges like insecurity and heavy rains that continually disrupted road construction projects.

“There are some challenges where there is fighting,” he explained. “The engineers who are constructing the roads will not be able to travel far. They will go only 30 kilometers ahead of our base so that we can come back quickly to our base for our protection so therefore it will be impossible to complete the road but now with the peace agreement and implementation, hopefully we will look into this.”

Mr. Khare said he also hoped that with the implementation of the peace agreement, other agencies with more robust development roles, like the UN Development Programme, would resume their activities towards developing the nation.

UNMISS Senior Relief, Reintegration and Protection Officer Sam Muhumure said his office would continue to have discussions on how to jointly support the return of people currently staying in the UNMISS protections of civilians site.

He however stressed that it was vital for cooperation and for the government to show clearly that all Jonglei State citizens could return to their homes and live peacefully.

“If this can be achieved, it will be a clear demonstration to everybody that peace has indeed returned and everybody can coexist together and pave way for a new thinking on how the government support can now be provided as resources being used to provide humanitarian assistance will be reverted to supporting government activities,” he said.

USG Khare, who also met with UNMISS staff and troops, inspected different facilities at the mission’s base. He commended all personnel categories for braving the hardships to help UNMISS achieves its goals.