Press Conference by Head of United Nations Mission to South Sudan

Just over ninety days after the new Republic of South Sudan had become an independent country and had joined the United Nations as a Member State, the country was already managing to overcome some of the colossal challenges it faced, Hilde Johnson, Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), said at a Headquarters press conference today.

“In South Sudan, we’re not talking about re-construction,” she said, “we’re talking about construction.  Clearly, as a new and independent country, the Government needs all the help it can get to ensure that stability and peace prevail and it can be established on a very solid footing.”

She said the main mandate of the Mission had followed a new approach, which was linked to supporting the new and independent country with peace, stability, consolidation of peace and also by providing long-term State-building.  In addition to this, the Mission had a strong mandate in enabling development to take place.

She raised four points on the mission and its status, the first major achievement being recognition of the progress of South Sudan in establishing the institutions that were key for the country and needed to be in place for democracy to be developed and prevail.  In the first three months, progress was noted in the establishment of a new Government that was more representative of the different communities in South Sudan than previous Governments, and was also including a number of stakeholders from different parts of society.

The second important achievement on the institutional side was the legislature, including the legislative assembly and the Council of States, a critical new “invention”, she said.

Of course, there remained much to be done to strengthen and develop these democratic institutions, but it was important to acknowledge that they had been put in place.  Similarly, consultations had begun on critical actions, including the Political Parties Act and the Electoral Act.  The country was also on its way to start consultations on the constitutional review process.

The second achievement was related to the return of South Sudanese to their new and independent country, she said.  It had been a significant challenge, both before independence and in the last three months, to get returnees home.  Hundreds of thousands had already returned, facilitated by the United Nations family and humanitarian agencies who had worked with both governments.

However, “a huge logistical challenge is underway, and more remains to be done,” she said.  There was a nine-month-long grace period for South Sudanese outside the country to return from the North, with the process set for completion by March or April.

The third issue revolved around security challenges, she said, noting major achievements in integrating rebel militia and renegade militias that had decided to reintegrate and return.  Three important rebel militia groups, David Yau Yau, Gatluck Gai and Peter Gatdet forces, had been integrated or were in the process of being integrated over the last three months, she said.  A few groups remained, and those efforts were being supported by the amnesty the President had issued for return to the Government and army without any repercussions.  She hoped to see the return of more of the remaining rebel leaders.

The situation in Jonglei had been the first test of the new Mission and new Government to ensuring security and stability in relation to the protection of civilians, she said.  The Mission had a strong protection-of-civilians mandate, under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter by Security Council resolution 1996 (2011).  Action had already been taken in relation to the killings in August and the Mission was trying to prevent a retaliatory attack that would have injured or killed hundreds of civilians, she said.  Through a comprehensive and multi-pronged approach, the Mission had, together with the South Sudanese government, so far deterred a retaliatory attack and had facilitated a reconciliation process where the churches had taken the lead in trying to bring communities together and to prevent such attacks from happening.

Those were among the challenges ahead that would have to be addressed in the new mandate of UNMISS, she said, noting that it was encouraging that the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) had been deployed and provided with a strong protection-of-civilians instruction from its President, the commander in chief.

Addressing the last issue related to north-south relations in the country, she said “for South Sudan to retain its stability and for peace and security to prevail, it is very important that its relations with its neighbour in the north is peaceful and that all the challenges that are still on the table are addressed in a peaceful manner where the remaining CPA [comprehensive peace agreement] issues and separation issues are finalized and completed with agreement between the two parties.”

She emphasized that north-south relations were not the mandate of the Mission.  The responsibility for dealing with those issues rested with Haile Menkerios, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, to work with the African Union High-level Implementation Panel headed by Thabo Mbeki.  It was critical that those issues were finalized and completed, since good neighbourly relations were a pre-condition for South Sudan to succeed as an independent nation.

Asked about a range of disarmament issues covering progress beyond the integration of the rebels, the extent of United Nations involvement in a civil or United Nations-led initiative, the number and type of “targeted” arms, and the need for such initiatives in the capital, Juba, she replied that civilian and overall disarmament initiatives were critical for peace to prevail.

The formal part of the UNMISS mandate was mainly linked to demobilization and reintegration of former combatants.  Over the next few years, the Mission expected a caseload of disarming 150,000 former combatants.  She was not able to list the weapons involved.

The civilian disarmament process was critical and was an area UNMISS was engaging in, carefully, she said.  That issue was not firmly anchored in the mandate.  The Mission was supporting, through advice and presence, the process from the Government’s side.  The civilian disarmament process was ongoing in three States, with one almost completed, and was being led by chiefs and traditional leaders and undertaken without any incidents.  She hoped that the current success could be replicated elsewhere. 

However, there was never any guarantee that there would not be any incidents around civilian disarmament, as it had a history of being complicated in South Sudan.  She had hoped to see similar developments taking place in Unity State and Warrap, and noted that additional States were expected to join, over the course of the coming months.

In terms of Juba, the Government had not initiated any formal disarmament process, she said.  The situation in the capital was linked more to criminal activity and the use of weapons in that regard, than to weapons being used in conflicts between communities.  The Mission had started to engage, after a request from the Minister of the Interior, to strengthen the police presence and to prevent more violence in the capital.  She noted that the initiative was not seen as a civilian disarmament process, but more as a policing obligation.

Asked about the eligibility screening process for returnees and whether the goal of accelerating the flow of returnees was being impeded by the North Sudan government — and, if so, how the United Nations was dealing with the issue — she said there was a strong returnee process negotiated between the two countries, with a nine-month-long grace period. 

The implementation of that initiative, however, had been hampered by insecurity on the border.  Three entry points for returnees had been partly blocked due to the conflict.  For example, in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile areas, the entry point at Renk had become the primary entry point.  A couple of other entry points had been hampered by the rainy season.  The main entry point, Renk, had become a bottleneck where humanitarian agencies had to engage actively to make sure the entry of the returnees had been facilitated.

That was a large, challenging humanitarian operation, she said, with many people still waiting to arrive at their homes.  The situation was not due to a political decision, but rather to practical reasons.  Humanitarian agencies were, however, struggling to keep up with the pace of returnees because of the logistical challenges.

In terms of screening, those returnees coming from Nuba Mountains were now in a refugee camp operated by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.  UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration were working together.  Those who might be crossing the border and wanted protection were being handled as refugees, in accordance with normal UNHCR procedure.

She was asked about recent reports that Janjaweed militia members were provided with Sudan government aircraft to be transported from South Sudan to Sudan, about how far the South Sudan government was progressing on the Nile Basin agreements, and about the development projects currently needed.  She said she had no knowledge of such reports on the Janajweed.  On the Nile Basin initiative, she said the South Sudanese Government had joined as a member, which was important for a number of neighbouring countries in the membership.  What that meant in terms of policies remained to be seen.

In terms of development challenges, “everything is needed,” she said.  In 2005, there were only five kilometres of tarmac in the whole country, which was as big as Germany and France combined.  The infrastructure challenges were huge, as was the need for investment in the agricultural production sector.  There were also immense needs in health, education and public services.  Between 80 and 90 per cent of the population live in the rural areas, which were not serviced in any tangible way by services, infrastructure and basic human needs.

From the UNMISS perspective, she welcomed the decision of the Government of Japan to contribute an engineering company, which would provide significant assistance in infrastructure areas; in accordance with the Mission’s mandate, any company deployed as part of a military deployment would need to assist with infrastructure projects related to the Mission’s needs, and to ensure that security could prevail.  Infrastructure projects that implied easier movement to areas were of the highest priority, she said.  She hoped to find infrastructure programmes that had a dual impact, affecting the Mission’s mandate and having development dividends for the population and the country overall.  She would be in dialogue with the Japanese battalion and engineering company when deployed.

Asked about concerns for the safety of the Japanese troops, she said if South Sudan was compared to a number of countries where peacekeepers were deployed, such as Afghanistan, Iraq or Cote d’Ivoire, the security situation was more peaceful in South Sudan.  Security concerns should be limited, related to deployment in South Sudan.  The challenges were of a different nature in South Sudan, she said.  Since 2005, peace had been prevailing.  The security challenges were more in the inter-communal areas, which was not likely to impact on an engineering company and its security.

For any Japanese public and officials with any questions about security, she said she appreciated that the Government had taken the decision to assess the security threat, and she would like to see the Japanese public support that very important decision.  In Haiti, where Japanese engineers had deployed before, there was high quality delivery of engineering capacity and use of equipment with significant speed.  For her side, it was important to receive an engineering company in South Sudan from Japan exactly for those reasons.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record