UN reiterates its support for the people of South Sudan on the International Day of Peace

On September 21, South Sudan and countries around the world commemorate the International Day of Peace. It is a special day established by the United Nations 40 years ago to strengthen the ideals of peace.

In South Sudan, the journey from war to peace and recovery is underway. Positive progress has been made since the peace deal was signed in 2018 but much more remains to be done to fully implement the peace agreement.

Key benchmarks need to be met, including graduating and deploying unified security forces, finalizing the permanent constitution, and preparing for elections.

The UN family is working alongside the government and people of South Sudan as a partner in this process, providing all possible support – humanitarian, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, recovery and development.

At least 21 UN Agencies, Funds and Programs are supporting millions of people suffering as a result of flooding, violence, food insecurity and COVID-19.

Providing this assistance is a huge challenge in the face of dwindling resources. The Humanitarian Response plan is seeking $1.7 billion dollars from generous donors this year to reach at least 6.6 million people with urgent life-saving assistance, out of 8.3 million people estimated to be in need. Food insecurity this year is the worst in a decade and recent floods were the worst in 60 years, affecting 480,000 people.

“We are also seeing subnational conflict across the whole country at a time when, actually, we want to see the political gains that have happened since the unity government came into place last year strengthened,” said World Food Program Representative and Country Director, Matthew Hollingworth.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan has almost 19,000 peacekeepers working in locations right across the country. The mission takes a proactive and robust approach to protecting civilians, deploying troops rapidly to areas where there is a threat of violence or conflict is underway. They have established numerous temporary bases and have increased patrolling in hotspots.

Civilian peacekeepers carry out many activities to monitor and investigate human rights violations and abuses, to help prevent and resolve conflict, as well as support reconciliation and peace.

During a recent visit to South Sudan, the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix reiterated the UN’s full support for all efforts to build peace and stability.

“We will be backing every positive step that is taken, and we believe that achieving the ultimate objective of peace and stability requires a very strong and trustworthy partnership between the Government and international partners” he said.

This month, as we mark the International Day of Peace, we ask communities across the country to join the efforts of the UN family to create a more equitable and peaceful future for South Sudan.