The visit follows the Councils recent renewal of the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), which included the approval of a 4,000-strong regional protection force to aid with security in the capital, Juba.
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“There really is no time to delay, given the acute humanitarian needs of the population and the insecurity that has plagued many parts of the country”, said the US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, leading the delegation, after her arrival for a three-day visit.
He commended the council for the visit which he believes is a reassurance to the government and South Sudanese people that the global community and the United Nations is committed to help bring peace to the country.
The government had initially rejected the deployment on the grounds that it was not necessary and would undermine the sovereignty of South Sudan.
In early July, close to the fifth anniversary of the country’s independence, the youngest nation was plunged into violence due to clashes between rival forces – the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), loyal to President Salva Kiir, and the SPLA in Opposition, backing former First Vice-President Riek Machar.
The new force has a focus on protecting civilians. But the shaky accord broke apart in July, when Kiir loyalists and fighters backing Machar fought a four-day battle in Juba that killed at least 300 people and wounded hundreds more – a lot of them civilians.
Power also called for accountability for attacks on civilians.
The visit, co-led by Senegal’s UN Ambassador Fode Seck, comes amid differences between the South Sudanese government and the global community on the UN resolution passed last month to send 4,000 additional peacekeepers to protect the capital, Juba.
South Sudan is wary of giving the United Nations more authority and has called the plan a new colonialism. “I think this force will help us to further implement this (peace) agreement”.
South Sudan also committed to implementing a hybrid court to investigate war crimes, according to Sunday’s joint statement by the government and the Security Council.
During the fighting in July, Machar, who had been persuaded to return to Juba as part of the national unity government agreed under the peace deal, fled the country and is now in Khartoum, having been replaced by Taban Deng Gai in Juba. South Sudan Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomoro said on Sunday that the government had no objection to who contributes soldiers.
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Aside from the tens of thousands of people killed, the United Nations has reported shocking levels of brutality including gang-rapes and the wholesale burning of villages.
