NEW YORK – Ms Ellen Løj, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan, said on Tuesday that the challenges in South Sudan remained enormous.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General, as saying that Løj stated this during her first press conference since assuming duties on Sept. 2 in South Sudan.
Løj noted that guaranteeing the protection of civilians “sooner rather than later” is among the top priorities of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
“We need to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches areas of need, and we need to ensure that there is accountability for human rights violations.
“Protection of civilians remains central to South Sudan’s stability and, thus, a core priority of UNMISS’ mandate,” she added.
Løj confirmed that the ethnic tensions sparked by political in-fighting between South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, continued to leave their mark.
Of the more than 1.8 million South Sudanese who fled their homes because of the conflict that began in mid-December 2013, she said, over 1.4 million remained displaced within the country. [eap_ad_2] According to her, most of them are sheltering in remote and hard-to-reach areas, and more than half of them are children.
Loj said an estimated 96,000 civilians continued to receive shelter at UN compounds, adding that UNMISS’ facilities were not designed to host such large populations of people.
She said Internally Displaced Persons (IPDs) were being relocated to new sites in Juba and Malakal to decongest and improve the living conditions at the over-populated locations.
She also said that UNMISS and the humanitarian partners were working closely on sustainable solutions, including encouraging the voluntary return of IDPs to their homes.
Løj said her first month on the ground in South Sudan had been an informative, and the challenges faced by the country and UNMISS had remained “enormous.”
“These challenges are both internal and external.
“And for the Mission to implement our mandate, we require cooperation and support by all parties in South Sudan, the Government, the opposition and other interest groups.”
NAN reports that earlier this year, the Security Council extended the mandate of UNMISS until Nov. 30.
It authorised UNMISS to use “all necessary means” to protect civilians, monitor and investigate human rights, create conditions for delivery of humanitarian assistance, and support implementation of the cessation of hostilities agreement. (NAN) [eap_ad_3]
