The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Dennis Francis, arrived in South Sudan for a four-day visit to demonstrate support for ongoing efforts to consolidate peace, security, and development in the country.
He is using the opportunity of the visit to further strengthen and foster cooperation between South Sudan and the United Nations and to express support for the Revitalized Peace Agreement and its full implementation. The President was welcomed by South Sudan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and an honour guard provided by Rwandese peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
The president of the General Assembly, Dennis Francis, has touched down in Juba on a four-day mission to support peace efforts in the conflict-affected country. Traveling with the Chef De Cabinet, ambassador Collen Vixen Kelapile, he was welcomed by a government delegation before being whisked away to a nearby base where Rwandese Peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) provided a special Guard of Honour.
The President is visiting the country to demonstrate support for ongoing efforts to consolidate peace, security and development as well as to further strengthen and foster cooperation between South Sudan and the United Nations. He took the opportunity on arrival to express his support for the revitalized peace agreement and its full implementation.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly, United Nations: “It is a mission of goodwill. But it’s more than goodwill. It’s a mission to let the people of South Sudan know that the United Nations has not forgotten you. We are not ignoring you. We will be here for the long haul. We know it will not be easy, but that will not detain us or distract us. We will be here with you, shoulder to shoulder, trying to get to the bottom of this so that your people can live their right to a peaceful, civil life where their prospects, their individual prospects, and ambitions can be achieved.”
The government expressed its appreciation for his visit to the world’s youngest country as it makes the difficult transition from conflict to peace.
SOUNDBITE (English) Monday Semaya Kumba, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, South Sudan:
“I’m very optimistic that this visit will be very fruitful. This visit will also have a positive impact towards our ongoing and upcoming engagement with the United Nations family. Once again, I thank you on behalf of the Government and people of South Sudan and we are looking forward to facilitating your visit and we are looking forward also to continue engaging you and looking forward to fruitful, transparent and productive discussions between you and our leaders.”
Mr. Francis will meet with South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit and ministers and hold discussions with senior leaders of UN Peacekeeping Mission. He will also hear from humanitarian agencies who are grappling with a dire situation where three-quarters of the population, nine million people, are in need of assistance while the 2024 humanitarian response plan has so far only received 18 percent of the $1.8 billion needed to protect and support vulnerable communities.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly, United Nations: “I’m hoping that my visit will elevate the level of attention that is given to the situation here in South Sudan and therefore generate more in the way of international support, humanitarian and other support, for the people who are always the ordinary people who play the biggest price in conflict.”
The President will also engage with Civil Society, University students, children and women peacekeepers. He will spend time in a camp for people displaced by conflict to see first-hand the challenges they face as well as the opportunities they see for peacebuilding.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dennis Francis, President of the General Assembly, United Nations: “The first words of the [UN] Charter are ‘We the peoples of the United Nations’. So, the United Nations is about people, making people’s lives better, and that is the commitment I think that brings us together. Where there is a will there is a way. It might take a little time, but we will cross that Rubicon. That is my faith. That is my hope and that is my desire for this great country of South Sudan.”
Mr. Francis reiterated his full support, and that of the general assembly, for the work of UNMISS and the wider UN System in South Sudan and appealed to all parties for continued collaboration and to unify for peace and stability in the country and region.
