Call to action for peace issued during International Peace Day celebrations in Unity
With extraordinary flooding submerging 70 percent of Unity State, hundreds of thousands of families have been forced to abandon their homes and livelihoods to seek sanctuary in a displacement camp on the tiny sliver of land that remains free of stagnant, dirty water.
Cramming diverse communities into a small space can result in competition over scarce resources and tensions over long-held grievances. However, on the International Day of Peace, these proud and resilient people gathered to celebrate their diversity and embrace unity, expressing their collective commitment to building a better future for all.
We stand at a critical juncture towards lasting peace, justice and inclusive engagement for all, said Unity State Governor, Riek Bim Top, to the hundreds of community members at the event which was held in a camp for displaced families.
This day is not just a symbolic one. It is a call to action, a call to every citizen of South Sudan, every citizen, every son and daughter of this land, every leader and every institution to act now for peace. Peace in our community, peace in the displacement camp and peace with our neighboring states.
The theme of the commemoration was access to justice, an issue that is dear to the hearts of people across the country who have suffered immense harm from persistent conflict and crime. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan is helping to address that challenge, including facilitating mobile courts, with financial support from the Norwegian Government.
We are continuing to work with you, with the Governor, and communities to ensure you can meet and talk through the challenges that lead to conflict, said the Head of 17勛圖厙 Bentiu Field Office, Sam Muhumure.
We are also supporting the mobile court and, hopefully, working with the Governor to fulfil the vision that he has to support the establishment of the Rule of Law institutions to be cemented in Bentiu so that everybody has access to justice and, once you have justice, you can build peace sustainably.
Preparatory investigative work is already underway for the mobile court, which will begin hearings in Bentiu on 29 September 2025. For the first time, prosecutors and investigators have been deployed in the displacement camp to look into complaints such as murder, rape, domestic violence and theft.
It is the fifth mobile court deployed in Unity State over the past two years.
For the communities who previously had little hope of securing accountability, justice has finally arrived in a place where it has been absent for far too long.
