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STORY: UN / UNMISS FORCE COMMANDER INTERVIEW
TRT: 3:58
SOURCE: UN NEWS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 23 JANUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – UNMISS – 07 JANUARY 2026, BENTIU, UNITY STATE, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Various shots, UNMISS peacekeepers working on flood mitigation
23 JANUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohan Subramanian, UNMISS Force Commander:
“In the three and a half years that I have been witness to the mission's actions, we would have saved about 162,000 lives, not only from physical violence, but also, in fact, majority from the calamitous effects of climate change, manifesting as unprecedented floods in the country. So, on average you can say about 30 to 35,000 people are protected from possible death threats to their lives due to floods every year, and approximately 15 to 20,000 people are being saved physically from threats of physical violence. Add to this the people we possibly save from conflict-related sexual violence.”
FILE – UNMISS – 07 JANUARY 2026, BENTIU, UNITY STATE, SOUTH SUDAN
3. Various shots, UNMISS peacekeepers working at the Airstrip
23 JANUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohan Subramanian, UNMISS Force Commander:
“In addition, of course, we are also working, our political side, the substantive sections are working for implementation of the peace agreement, which provides long-term sustainable peace. So that not tangible in short time period of one year or two years, but in over a period of 5 to 10 years that activity helps in achieving peace and tranquility and some sort of a sustained peace in the country.”
FILE – UNMISS – 07 JANUARY 2026, BENTIU, UNITY STATE, SOUTH SUDAN
5. Wide shot, UNMISS peacekeepers taking measurement of water level and grading the dykes
23 JANUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohan Subramanian, UNMISS Force Commander:
“Even now as we speak today, we are perilously close to a civil war than we were five to six years ago. We are in a situation where the peace agreement is in threat. And when every stakeholder understands that keeping this peace agreement as the center of all our actions and try to implement it despite all the difficulties, that's the only way forward. But despite that, the peace agreements is today challenged in more ways than one.”
06 DECEMBER 2025, BOR, SOUTH SUDAN
7. Various shots, South Korean Peacekeeper planting rice
23 JANUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohan Subramanian, UNMISS Force Commander:
“We are continuously learning with every opportunity, wherever there has been a shortcoming in our response to certain misinformation, we are trying to correct ourselves. As of now, we have a strategy which is working. Unfortunately, in a country which does not have the requisite normal communication architecture, misinformation rules the roost, as it is only social media that reaches every settlement.”
06 DECEMBER 2025, BOR, SOUTH SUDAN
9. Med shot, South Korean Peacekeeper planting rice
23 JANUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohan Subramanian, UNMISS Force Commander:
“Governments and stakeholders who are genuinely interested in peace should never resort to misinformation against the United Nations. The United Nations is after all there in the country to support the community which has suffered a lot. Now the country and other stakeholders should not increase this suffering by eroding the credibility of the United Nations unfairly.”
FILE – UNMISS - 21 OCTOBER 2025, JUBA
11. Wide shot, peacekeepers gardening at Straight Link Academy
12. Med shot, student sowing seeds at Straight Link Academy
23 JANUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohan Subramanian, UNMISS Force Commander:
“You have to judge by the number of civilians and the civilian lives that are saved on a daily basis. You should judge it by the number of people who get food because the mission exists. You should judge it by number of people who are surviving calamitous effects of floods and other natural challenges, natural disasters, because the mission exist. There are so many ways in which missions touch human lives in an affected society. So, we should not forget to see them when we are only looking at political objectives, whether they were achieved or not.”
16 OCTOBER 2025, YAMBIO, SOUTH SUDAN
14. Various shots, release of children from the South Sudan Defense Force
15. Wide shot, local communities dancing
The outgoing Force Commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian said that the peace agreement in the country is under "threat,” urging stakeholders to implement the agreement despite difficulties.
In an interview on Friday (23 Jan) in New York, Lieutenant General Subramanian said that in the three and a half years that he’s been with the Mission, about 162,000 lives are saved, “not only from physical violence, but also, in fact, majority from the calamitous effects of climate change, manifesting as unprecedented floods in the country.”
On the political side, Lieutenant General Subramanian said that the substantive sections are working for implementation of the peace agreement, which provides long-term sustainable peace.
“So that’s not tangible in short time period of one year or two years, but in over a period of 5 to 10 years that activity helps in achieving peace and tranquility and some sort of a sustained peace in the country,” he added.
On misinformation, Lieutenant General Subramanian said, “We are continuously learning with every opportunity, wherever there has been a shortcoming in our response to certain misinformation, we are trying to correct ourselves. As of now, we have a strategy which is working.”
“Unfortunately, in a country which does not have the requisite normal communication architecture, misinformation rules the roost, as it is only social media that reaches every settlement,” he added.
The Force Commander also encourage governments and stakeholders who are genuinely interested in peace to “never resort to misinformation against the United Nations.”
He said, “The United Nations is after all there in the country to support the community which has suffered a lot. Now the country and other stakeholders should not increase this suffering by eroding the credibility of the United Nations unfairly.”
On the work of the Mission, Lieutenant General Subramanian said, “You have to judge by the number of civilians and the civilian lives that are saved on a daily basis. You should judge it by the number of people who get food because the mission exists. You should judge it by number of people who are surviving calamitous effects of floods and other natural challenges, natural disasters, because the mission exist.”
He concluded, “There are so many ways in which missions touch human lives in an affected society. So, we should not forget to see them when we are only looking at political objectives, whether they were achieved or not.”
