In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council noted UNMISS’ priority task of protecting civilians, and urged the Mission to “deploy its assets accordingly.”

The Council welcomed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s intention that “UNMISS will geographically reconfigure its military and asset deployment so as to focus on volatile high-risk areas and associated protection requirements.”

In his recent report on South Sudan, Ban wrote that while UNMISS continues to focus on the protection of civilians as one of its core tasks, the primary responsibility for the protection of civilians in South Sudan lies with the Government.

“A peacekeeping mission, however configured, cannot replace the Government, which is also responsible for ensuring the safety and security, and freedom of movement, of United Nations personnel and assets deployed to assist it in this regard,” he stated.

Ban reiterated his condemnation of violence against UN personnel in South Sudan and recalled the requirement for the Government to hold the perpetrators of those attacks accountable, irrespective of who the perpetrators are.

He added that, in particular, those responsible in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army for the December 2012 shooting of an UNMISS helicopter – which killed all four crew members onboard – must be brought to justice immediately.

The Council today reiterated its call on the Government of South Sudan to take greater responsibility for the protection of its civilians and in this respect encourages greater cooperation with UNMISS.

It also demanded that the Government and all relevant parties cooperate fully in the deployment, operations, and monitoring, verification, and reporting functions of UNMISS, particularly by guaranteeing the safety, security and unrestricted freedom of movement of UN personnel, as well as of associated personnel throughout the country.

Among its many other provisions, the resolution expressed deep concern at the increasing violence, particularly in the Tri-States Area of Lakes, Unity and Warrap, and in Jonglei and Western Bahr el-Ghazal states, and underlined the need to address the causes of communal violence in South Sudan.

The peacekeeper was wounded when an unidentified armed group fired on an UNMISS patrol that was moving from Gurmuk to Pibor, UN spokesperson Eduardo del Buey told a news conference in New York.

“The peacekeeper has been evacuated to Juba for further medical treatment. His situation is stable,” he stated.

“The Mission strongly condemns this attack against its personnel and calls on all parties to respect the freedom of movement of UN personnel carrying out their mandate and to cooperate with the peacekeepers in their efforts to protect civilians and help establish a stable security environment in Jonglei state.”

Jonglei is the largest state in South Sudan and has been the scene of inter-communal violence since the country became independent from Sudan in July 2011.

The UN Security Council set up UNMISS in July 2011 to consolidate peace and security, and help to establish conditions for development in the world’s youngest nation.

On 23 August, armed fighters believed to be loyal to a renegade leader named David Yau Yau attacked South Sudanese troops stationed in the Nanaam area of Pibor County in Jonglei.

According to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), 24 soldiers were killed in the fighting while numerous others are still reported missing or injured.

“I strongly condemn this attack and reiterate UNMISS’ call on all communities, institutions and actors engaged in the Jonglei peace process and related security operations to stay the course in making further progress and in consolidating the gains made to date,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan and head of UNMISS, Hilde F. Johnson, said in a news release.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, the UN peacekeeping mission provided support to the South Sudanese armed forces, assisting in the evacuation of the wounded and providing aerial transportation to local government officials travelling to visit communities in the area.

Jonglei state, South Sudan’s biggest, has seen recurrent bouts of violence since the country obtained independence last year.

Large-scale cattle raids between the Murle and Lou Nuer communities, for instance, have posed an ongoing threat to the area’s peace and security with violence causing numerous casualties, including many dead, wounded, abducted and displaced. It is estimated that clashes between the two groups have affected some 120,000 people in Jonglei since December 2011.

In its press release, UNMISS noted that the recent attack may have been deliberately planned to undermine progress made in improving the regional security environment, as well as in establishing inter-ethnic reconciliation.

The peacekeeping operation added that it would continue to work with the Government of South Sudan and other national and local authorities towards the achievement of “durable peace, security and stability in Jonglei.”

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council stressed the need for UNMISS to focus on its capacity-building efforts, and called on the Government of South Sudan to take greater responsibility for the protection of its civilians, and encouraged its cooperation with the Mission.

Almost one year ago, South Sudan gained its independence, becoming the newest country in the world. Around the same time, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Council adopted resolution 1996, which determined that the situation faced by South Sudan continued to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region, and established UNMISS for an initial period of one year to consolidate peace and help establish the necessary conditions for development.

Since its inception, South Sudan has experienced border violence with its northern neighbour, Sudan, which has led to the displacement of thousands of people.

In its resolution, the Council expressed deep concern at the humanitarian situation caused by “heightened insecurity along the Sudan/South Sudan border region and the conflict in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States, as well as the inter-communal violence and widespread food insecurity,” and demanded that all parties immediately cease all hostilities and human rights abuses against the civilian population, in particular gender-based violence.

The 15-member body also called on the Government to take measures to improve women’s participation and engagement in public decision-making and in the revision of the country’s constitution to be able to “counter negative societal attitudes about women’s capacity to participate equally.”

In addition, the Council called upon UNMISS to coordinate with Government authorities its participation in regional mechanisms that seek to protect civilians and support disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, in light of attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in South Sudan.

The LRA carried out the worst of its atrocities in northern Ugandan in the 1990s, but had, by 2004, largely been driven out of the area through a sustained military effort. However, remnants of the insurgent group continued to attack civilians in the four affected countries. Led by Joseph Kony, the group is notorious for carrying out massacres in villages, mutilating its victims and abducting boys for use as child soldiers, while girls are forced into sexual slavery.