July 13, 2011
With South Sudan now fully independent, plans are underway to deploy a new United Nations peacekeeping force in the country. The UN Security Council unanimously approved that force last week, assuring the new nation of military and police support to help maintain peace and security.
Today, the newly appointed head of UNMISS, Hilde Johnson, who is also the special representative of the UN secretary general to South Sudan, met with journalists for the first time since her appointment. Johnson is a veteran of south Sudanese affairs. As the Norwegian minister of International Development, she was heavily involved in the north-south negotiations and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. Recently, she wrote a book on that topic, called Waging Peace in Sudan. Previously, she was also the deputy director of the UN Children's Agency.
At a press conference today, she spoke about the mandate of the new mission as featured in UN Security Council Resolution 1996.
She spoke with reporter Charleton Doki in Juba.