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STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / BOR MEDAL PARADE
TRT: 02:24
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NAT
DATELINE: 20 NOVEMBER 2025, BOR, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Various shots, SRIMED marching and treating patients
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Lt. Gen. Mohan Subramanian, UNMISS Force Commander:
“Yours is a small unit, but a unit that punches above its weight and keeps the entire UNMISS personnel in Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area safe, healthy and always taken care of. Your presence here gives confidence to people who go on long duration patrols and people working in temporary operating bases.”
3. Various shots, treating patients
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Major Ayesh Jayarathna, Medical Doctor, UNMISS:
“Actually, it is a very challenging situation because we have to deal with different nationalities, different mindsets, different ethnicities and different requirements, so that is one thing, and it's far away from Sri Lanka, so the setup is also different. Challenges are there, but we are well adapted to the system.”
5. Various shots, receiving medals
Sri Lanka’s proud history of significantly contributing to UN peace operations is very much alive and well, not least its contingent serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Its contingent in Bor in the country’s volatile Jonglei State provides fellow peacekeepers, other UN staff, and members of the host community with emergency medical care, sometimes of a life-saving nature, day and night.
Sri Lanka’s contingent, for the critical service they offer more than 2,000 patients a year, 64 doctors, nurses and other hospital staff, including 12 women, have been awarded UN medals.
Lt. Gen. Mohan Subramanian, UNMISS Force Commander, said, “Yours is a small unit, but a unit that punches above its weight and keeps the entire UNMISS personnel in Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area safe, healthy and always taken care of. Your presence here gives confidence to people who go on long duration patrols and people working in temporary operating bases.”
Apart from running the hospital in Bor, the Sri Lankans also brave poor and sometimes flooded roads to send mobile clinics to remote communities in the area.
On the road, they raise awareness on hygiene and healthy habits, and offer free check-ups, treatment and medications to people living far away from medical facilities.
Offering health services in a peacekeeping context is a complex but vital task. Major Ayesh Jayarathna, a Medical Doctor with UNMISS, said, “Actually, it is a very challenging situation because we have to deal with different nationalities, different mindsets, different ethnicities and different requirements, so that is one thing, and it's far away from Sri Lanka, so the setup is also different. Challenges are there, but we are well adapted to the system.”
UN medals are presented to military personnel to honour their commitment and contribution to global peace and security.
