Uluslararası Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi
Yazarlar: Ohazuruike Kennedy
Konular:
Anahtar Kelimeler:Conflict,South Sudan,Protection of Civilian,UN Peacekeeping Operations,UNMISS
Özet: The UN has played and continues to play vital roles in mediating peace agreements and assisting in their implementation, helping to reduce the level of conflict in several regions in the world, especially in Africa. However, some of those peace accords have failed to bring the conflicts to an end, such as in South Sudan. By December 2013 there ensued a political power struggle between the South Sudanese president Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar, which resulted in violent clashes between ethnic army factions. The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2132 (2013) on December 24 in response to the crisis. Overnight, the UNMISS had to transit from supporting the nascent nation, which gained independence in July 2011, to protecting civilians from harm, sometimes against the government that has as one of its constitutional duty the protection of lives and properties of its citizens. The paper examined the role UNMISS in its transformed mandate of civilian protection. The paper is largely theoretical, analytical and descriptive; hence our reliance on documentary sources of data. Anchoring our discourse on the structural-functional framework, findings amongst others revealed that; even though the UNMISS set a precedent in international protection by hosting civilians within its bases for several years, UNMISS often seems to lack the political will and leadership required to implement its PoC obligations effectively, partly because troop-contributing countries refuse to allow their troops to be deployed to certain regions, or to use force to protect civilians; access restrictions affect the ability of UNMISS to undertake operations, limiting the movement and transport of personnel and supplies. The paper recommends amongst others that; UNMISS’ capacity should be strengthened, notably long-range patrols, patrol on foot, and make better use of its civilian resources to identify threats to communities and the deployment of more troops to help achieve this objective.