UN Mission in South Sudan downsizes operations amid funding crisis

Transcript

00:00the united nations mission in south sudan says it has cut running costs and is scaling down its

00:14peacekeeping operations in the east african country this means by the end of the month

00:21it's a well-filled office will be closed impacting 600 staff members but the un says

00:28it will continue to serve the area from nearby bases this is happening because of global funding

00:35cuts we have received the instruction to reduce our budgets by 18 percent because our budget year

00:43has already started this means that it's more like 25 percent and so this means we've had to make hard

00:53decisions unmis has more than 20 000 staff and peacekeepers across south sudan 3 600 will lose

01:01their jobs as a result of the closure of bases the civilian police and military personnel working

01:09with the mission are from 73 countries the work of the peacekeepers includes the protection of civilians

01:16and creating conditions conducive to the delivery of humanitarian assistance the troops also support

01:23the implementation of the 2018 peace deal and monitor and investigate human rights abuse claims

01:31we wanted them to stay longer maybe until after the election and the conditions that have been

01:40numerated is accepted and i say we welcome the idea and i promise her that it will work the state

01:53government will work to make sure that the closer you are both very smoothly south sudan's government says it

01:59is concerned that the closure of unmis bases will lead to loss of jobs for hundreds of locals

02:06unmis bases are critical logistical hubs for humanitarian work facilitating storage coordination and

02:13distribution of life-saving aid in a country with poor road networks closure of the field offices will

02:20negatively affect humanitarian operations