SOUTH SUDAN / CROSS BORDER TRADE

There are plenty of goods for sale and business is booming at the local market in Renk despite the trade corridor being closed between Sudan and South Sudan at the moment, meaning many products are likely to have been smuggled in. The relative prosperity is attracting many people who fled during the five-year civil war to return from refugee camps just across the border. UNMISS

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:30
• Production Date: 29 November 2018
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: DAVID SHEARER
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN – UNMISS
• Subject Topical: PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS; TRADE
• Geographic Subject: SOUTH SUDAN; SUDAN
• MAMS Id: 2322276
• Parent Id: 2322276
• Alternate Title: unifeed181129f

Description

STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / CROSS BORDER TRADE
TRT: 02:30
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH /ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 29 NOVEMBER 2018, RENK, SOUTH SUDAN

1. Various shots, views from inside plane on approach
2. Med shot, SRSG David Shearer shaking hands on arrival
3. Wide shot, lady walking in market
4. Wide shot, seeds in the market
5. Close up, seeds in the market
6. Med Shot, SRSG David Shearer shaking hands in the market
7. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS:
“From what I’m hearing it’s been calm, very stable. The population here is multi-ethnic and they’re living very much at peace. In many ways, it is a town that could be a model for the rest of South Sudan.”
8. Tracking shot, on road in convoy
9. Tracking shot, town shots
10. Wide shot, kids loading bags on cart
11. Med shot, meeting with governor
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Awer Dau Agany, Northern Upper Nile Deputy Governor:
“We need peace, education and hygiene services in Renk. There has also been an issue in Maban where humanitarian bases were damaged by demonstrators. The Government is taking action against the people that destroyed the place. As a Government we will be the right hand of UNMISS to support it and we need all the humanitarians to support the people to make development in Renk and the other South Sudan States.”
13. Pan right, UN base
14. Wide shot, peacekeepers in APC
15. Med Shot, SRSG David Shearer comes down from guard tower
16. SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS:
“If the peace process can work, and if it’s possible to be able to meet with the opposition groups here and create peace, then everything flows from peace. The development of Renk in particularly will further develop if we have peace.”
17. Wide shot, main street

Storyline

There are plenty of goods for sale and business is booming at the local market in Renk despite the trade corridor being closed between Sudan and South Sudan at the moment, meaning many products are likely to have been smuggled in. The relative prosperity is attracting many people who fled during the five-year civil war to return from refugee camps just across the border.

It is the first visit for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan, David Shearer, to the town in the far north of the country, close to the border with Sudan.

SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS:
“From what I’m hearing it’s been calm, very stable. The population here is multi-ethnic and they’re living very much at peace. In many ways, it is a town that could be a model for the rest of South Sudan.”

Power is also flowing to the area from Sudan, the roads are well-sealed, and the town is much more built up than other parts of the country which have been devastated by the ongoing conflict.

However, local authorities say they desperately need investment in new infrastructure, including systems capable of taking water and power from the center of town to outlying areas. Healthcare and educational facilities are also limited.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Awer Dau Agany, Northern Upper Nile Deputy Governor:
“We need peace, education and hygiene services in Renk. There has also been an issue in Maban where humanitarian bases were damaged by demonstrators. The Government is taking action against the people that destroyed the place. As a Government we will be the right hand of UNMISS to support it and we need all the humanitarians to support the people to make development in Renk and the other South Sudan States.”

UNMISS has a peacekeeping base in Renk which provides a protective presence for refugees returning to the immediate area or transiting through to communities elsewhere in the country.

Their role is vital to sustaining security with an expected increase in the flow of refugees when the border opens, and the dry season hits its height early next year. They will also play an important role in supporting peacebuilding efforts.

SOUNDBITE (English) David Shearer, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS:
“If the peace process can work, and if it’s possible to be able to meet with the opposition groups here and create peace, then everything flows from peace. The development of Renk in particularly will further develop if we have peace.”

That peace will encourage further prosperity for a community that is tired of war and want the chance to rebuild their country, so they have a future to look forward to.