In August, the Security Council chose to boost the United Nations mission by 4,000 additional troops to be deployed from regional countries, but South Sudan rejected the measure.
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The rare visit focuses on the council’s decision to deploy the peacekeepers with a strengthened mandate to protect civilians after numerous reports of rapes and attacks by government troops after renewed fighting erupted in Juba in July.
Last month, the Security Council passed a resolution authorising the deployment of 4,000 strong force with a mandate to use force to ensure smooth implementation of the shaky peace agreement that ended 21 months of war between South Sudan army and the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) led by his former deputy Riek Machar.
The government has accepted in principal the force, but many outright reject it.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power delivered a stern message on arrival, noting recent obstructions of United Nations work.
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JUBA, South Sudan (AP) – The U.N.
“People who are operating with impunity don’t want to operate with UNMISS and don’t want to cooperate with a regional protection force”, she said.
He noted that the Security Council will express strong support for the United Nations mission in South Sudan and highlight the need for the mission to fulfil its mandate to protect civilians.
The Council members will take the opportunity to visit UNMISS Protection of Civilians sites in Juba, and a protection area established adjacent to the UNMISS base in the state of Wau, to meet with internally displaced people and see for themselves the prevailing humanitarian and security conditions.
The Council has, in its recent Resolution, expressed grave alarm over the security situation and the ongoing violence in the country, as well as the dire humanitarian consequences for the people of the country.
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The United Nations Security Council is made up five permanent members, with a further ten members sitting on the Council on a two-year rotation.
