The UN Mission in South Sudan or UNMISS in collaboration with Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, or CEPO organized forum to disseminate UNMISS’ new mandate following its extension.
UNMISS Civil Affairs Officer; Efuk Barnabas outlines the mandate including protection of civilians, supporting aid partners and coordination of the peace process.
“It is a privileged to be here with you every year.The mandate doesn’t change, this year is just the same, but most basically, we have our four mandate, protection of civilians, offering support to humanitarian partners like NGOS, the UN agencies, partners like civil society, supporting the preparation of the peace agreement, like the peace agreement which was of recent abrogated. UNMISS always share to coordinate through partners like JEMEC and CTSAM’.
Mr. Barnabas says it is important to know UNMISS’ mandate to ease communication between the aid and peace actors in the state.
“It is very important to know our mandate of UNMISS. It will be easy for them to coordinate with us in all what we are doing. All those in refugee camps civilians who are even at home and all those who feel any threat of violent , the mandate speaks entirely about South Sudan prevention like to deter when there is any kind of violent occurrence from any other source. Through the humanitarian actors, civil society, NGOS and other UN agencies that share information, help to deter the occurrence of all. We also offer things like capacity building to peace humanitarian actors and many others to help humanitarian agencies work peacefully and access area which need help and monitor human rights or child abuse and for the government to also know that UNMISS is helping the community’ he emphasized.
He urges humanitarian agencies to make sure they access people at grass roots to deliver services.