19 April 2017 – The United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan has done “significant work” to more effectively protect civilians and respond in case of a crisis, Secretary-General António Guterres has said in a letter to the President of the UN Security Council.

The letter summarizes the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the independent special investigation into the violence in Juba in July 2016 and the actions of the UN Mission, known as UNMISS.

“Significant work has been undertaken over the last five months to enhance the ability of UNMISS to protect civilians, better plan and prepare its response to crisis situations and increase staff safety and security,” the Secretary-General wrote in the letter to Ambassador Nikki Haley, the Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN, in her capacity as President of the Security Council for April.

Image: Women displaced by fighting in Juba, South Sudan, queue to fill containers with water after UNICEF delivered 100,000 litres of safe water to the site, where many residents had resorted drinking from a nearby stream. UNICEF/UN025202/Irwin