Hanoi (VNA) – A Vietnamese diplomat underlined theimportance of promoting the transitional period and fully implementing thepeace agreement in South Sudan while attending the UN Security Council’s onlinemeeting on this country’s situation and activities of the UN Mission there(UNMISS) on June 23.

UN Secretary-General’s Special Representativefor South Sudan and head of UNMISS David Shearer, and Executive Director of theCommunity Empowerment for Progress Organisation (CEPO) in South Sudan EdmundYakani delivered reports at the event.

According to them, there have been encouragingsteps in South Sudan recently, especially the formation of the transitionalgovernment on February 22, with former opposition leader Riek Marchar appointedas First Vice President. 

The new cabinet also includes one vice presidentand nine ministers who are women while relevant parties there reached anagreement on the allocation of states, they noted.

However, conflicts between the government’stroops and armed groups that haven’t taken part in the 2018 peace deal, as wellas the violence among communities, are tending to escalate.

Besides, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit hard theeconomic and humanitarian situations in South Sudan and hampered thetransitional period as its government has to focus on dealing with theoutbreak, the reports added.

As of June 23, South Sudan recorded 1,892COVID-19 cases, including three vice presidents and nine ministers. There werealso 34 deaths from the viral disease.

David Shearer said the UNMISS has continuedefforts to protect civilians amid the spread of COVID-19, pointing out somedifficulties the mission is facing as the local government has issued travelrestrictions to curb the pandemic. He also called on the UN Security Counciland the Intergovernmental Authority on Development to keep promoting relevantparties in South Sudan to push ahead with the peace agreement.

At the meeting, some member countries of the UNSecurity Council urged the parties in South Sudan to fully implement the peaceand ceasefire agreements while welcoming some positive developments recently.They showed their support for the international community to increaseassistance for South Sudan to handle humanitarian issues and COVID-19 impacts.Some suggested the country pay attention to exercise justice during thetransitional period, fight corruption, and ensure the rights to freedom andparticipation of people, especially women, during the process of nationalreconstruction.

For his part, Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head ofVietnam’s mission to the UN, highly valued the recent progress in South Sudanand its transitional government’s efforts to cope with COVID-19. 

He also sympathised with difficulties incarrying out the peace agreement due to the pandemic and noted that theceasefire deal has been basically observed though certain complications remain.

Reiterating Vietnam’s support for the UNMISS,Quy also informed participations about efforts by Vietnam’s level-2 fieldhospital in Bentiu city in the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The country now has 68 officers at the UNMISS,including 11 females.

Vietnam officially took part in UN peacekeepingoperations by sending two officers to the UNMISS in 2014. Its level-2 fieldhospital has been deployed in Bentiu since 2018. From the beginning of 2020 toJune 10, this hospital handled 927 patients. Its members have also participatedin anti-COVID-19 training for UN staff and local people./.