30 March 2023
Last week, UNDSS Assistant Secretary General (ASG), Unaisi Vuniwaqa visited South Sudan and Ethiopia on a mission to strengthen working relationships with government authorities and UN Security Management System organizations.
While in Juba, the ASG met with SRSG Nicolas Haysom to discuss the criticality of our security work and its importance in enabling our humanitarian partners to ¡°stay and deliver¡±. During the meetings, the ASG assured that our efforts would continue, especially as the political and economic situation in country continues to evolve. The ASG also met with the Inspector General of the Police, who is currently acting as the Minister of the Interior. In their discussions, she expressed appreciation for the Government¡¯s ongoing support to the UN and international partners and requested their continued collaboration and support in ensuring the safety and security of our personnel in country.
In Malakal, the ASG visited with the recently elected Upper River Nile Governor and his team. They discussed the work of the peacekeeping mission and the importance of protecting the civilian population. The ASG also visited the protection of civilians site in Malakal, participated in a joint security and UNMISS SMM meeting, and met with representatives of UNSMS organizations and implementing partners operating in the region. In those discussions, our partners expressed appreciation for the UNDSS team and their work to support humanitarian operations, and expressed hope for additional resources and assistance to further deliver their mandates.
After returning to Juba, the ASG met with the UNMISS Police Commissioner, Ms. Christine Fossen, who replaced the ASG in that role after she accepted her position in New York. The UN Mission in South Sudan tweeted the following message:, ¡°special moments today at #UNMISS when Police Commissioner Christine Fossen met her predecessor, Assistant-Secretary-General Unaisi Bolatolu Vuniwaqa, who is visiting #SouthSudan. They discussed key policing and security issues.¡± The ASG also met with UNDSS personnel in a town hall, wherein the ASG expressed gratitude for their efforts and elaborated on the Department¡¯s strategic initiatives.
After fruitful discussions in South Sudan, the ASG continued her programme in Ethiopia. ¡°I met with heads of agencies, funds, and programmes and discussed UNDSS support in Ethiopia on programme delivery and safety and security of UN staff,¡± shared the ASG. As part of her visit, the ASG also traveled to Semera and met with Afar regional authorities and UN personnel in the area to express gratitude for supporting UNDSS operations in the Afar Region which plays an essential role in enabling the provision of humanitarian assistance in Tigray and Afar regions. During the different meetings, the ASG reiterated UNDSS¡¯ commitment to the UNSMS organizations stressing that ¡°UNDSS will continuously support the UN entities to achieve their humanitarian, development, and peacekeeping mandates.¡±
In acknowledging the ASG¡¯s visit, the UN Under Secretary General & Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, Hannah Tetteh mentioned, ¡°good discussion yesterday with my colleagues ASG Unaisi Vuniwaqa and the RC Catherine Sozi on the work of the UN in Ethiopia and the region. Many thanks to Unaisi and our colleagues in UNDSS especially UNDSS Ethiopia and all you do to support the work of the UN.¡±
Back in Addis Ababa, the ASG held a town hall meeting with UNDSS Ethiopia personnel and separately met with female supervisors. The ASG used the platform to reiterate the department¡¯s continuous effort in promoting a more inclusive and enabling organizational culture aimed at achieving greater gender parity in its staffing and providing more gender-responsive safety and security services to the United Nations community.