Sunday, 21 August 2011 Written by - E-mail Print PDF
Hilde Johnson stressing a point in Torit on Friday The new mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) provides for the possibility of it taking action to protect civilians in certain situations where their lives are in danger. This was said by the special representative of the UN secretary General (SRSG) in South Sudan Hilde Johnson in Torit, Eastern Equatoria State last Friday. “This mission has been granted the possibility of action if the government is not acting in situations where a number of civilians are in imminent threat,” she said. Hilde clarified that, “This does not however, mean that we will replace the government; the government has the responsibility of protecting its citizens.” She also said that the mission’s approach is to engage civil society, churches leaders, traditional leaders and chiefs. “The other part of the mandate which is much stronger is on conflict prevention mitigation and resolution where we will have civil affairs officers working with communities engaged with the traditional leaders, chiefs, state authority and also civil society organizations,” she emphasized. Hilde was speaking to members of the civil society organizations and faith based organizations in Eastern Equatoria state where she had led a team to obtain an understanding of the work of civil society and share their experiences. “The reason for organizing this meeting is basically my desire to reflect (say) that this is a new mission with a new mandate and new approach,” said Hilde. She said the mission is currently discussing with the government of the new republic on how to implement its mandate. Hilde said that political transition, peace consolidation through inclusiveness, representative government and ensuring there is political space for different actors are among mandates of the new mission. “In that context we are talking of respect for human rights, protection of women and children and encouraging democratic transition,” she said. The chairperson of Eastern Equatoria State civil society organizations network, Jimmy Kilang told the visiting UN team that lack of information sharing between the state government and civil society organizations has created gaps in the state. He noted that the government looks at them as opposition. “We have unreliable relationship with the government,” Kilang said. Kilang observed that failure to involve civil society organizations in government programs has led to setbacks in some programmes. The chairperson cited lack of capacity, office space, and finance among constraints facing the network. He added that, “Security issues are also a challenge.” Copyright © 2011 The New Nation. All rights reserved. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
