The commander of the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Abyei (UNISFA) held an informal meeting with Sudanese and South Sudanese national monitors to brief them on security in the disputed area between the two countries.
Lieutenant General Birhanu Jula Gelalcha, who commands UNISFA’s troops and is the Acting Head of Mission, reiterated to the two sides that they need to work cooperatively for peace and progress. He said UNISFA aims to hold more informal meetings with the monitors.
“We can discuss and decide and work together to bring peace and unity to the people,” Gelalcha said, adding they will organize training workshops for the monitors.
According to a UNISFA press release, the national monitors “promised to work together and to collectively support UNISFA to carry out its mandated task in the Abyei Area.”
“They lamented the non-operational status of the Diffra and Agok team sites and hope the operations in these areas would soon resume. They also appealed to the UNISFA to look into the issue of improved accommodation for their members in order to facilitate their work,” the release added.
Photo credits: UNISFA