Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Visits South Sudan

Jean-Pierre Lacroix (centre), Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, is visiting Juba, South Sudan, to support the efforts of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to continue delivering on its mandate to protect civilians and advance peace in South Sudan while implementing operational changes in response to the UN-wide financial crisis. The changes include closing some bases, reducing peacekeeping personnel, and cutting operational spending. Mr. Lacroix was briefed by senior UNMISS officials on the situation before engaging with senior Government ministers to secure their ongoing support for the implementation of the Contingency Plan as well as efforts to progress the peace process.

While in South Sudan, the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, also met with members of the diplomatic community on the ground, held talks with President Salva Kiir, and addressed Bangladeshi peacekeepers serving with the Mission, to whom he expressed his deepest condolences following the killing of Bangladeshi peacekeepers in a drone attack in Kadugli, Sudan.