As UN Downsizes Security Operations in South Sudan, Catholic Bishops Warn of “serious implications”

Malakal, 17 November, 2025 / 9:19 PM

The United Nations has announced that it is downsizing its security operations in South Sudan, a decision that Catholic Bishops in the country and the neighbouring Sudan say spells doom for innocent civilians.

In a statement on November 11, Under-Secretary-General for UN Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix cited financial constraints, noting that South Sudan President Salva Kiir was aware of the decision, which includes reductions of national and international staff, as well as the closure of some UNMISS offices in the embattled country.

Lacroix said that the UN's contingency plan, “applied across all UN peacekeeping operations to address liquidity challenges, is now being implemented in UNMISS.”

“This plan entails the closure of certain field offices and bases, the repatriation of uniformed personnel, which has already begun, and reductions of national and international staff,” Lacroix says in the report, and adds, “During my recent visit to Juba, I informed the Government of South Sudan, including President Salva Kiir, of these measures, emphasizing the financial imperatives driving this exercise.”

In a message they issued at the end of their November 7-14 Plenary Assembly, members of the Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SSS-CBC) said that they were “disturbed” by the news that the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was downsizing.

“We continue to be grateful to UNMISS and all the other partners. However, we are disturbed by the recent downsizing of UNMISS staff and closing some of the stations,” the Bishops said.

They said that downsizing UNMISS “will have serious implications and consequences for peace in South Sudan.”

“We appeal to the United Nation members and partners to continue supporting the people South Sudan at this critical time,” the Bishops said at the end of their assembly, which was held in South Sudan’s Catholic Diocese of Malakal.

In their message, the Bishops addressed numerous issues; key among them the protracted fighting in South Sudan and the civil war in Sudan where “abominable atrocities” have been reported.

They said they were “deeply disturbed” by the ongoing atrocities against civilians in both countries and expressed concern that dialogue has been replaced by selfish interests of the parties to the conflicts.

The Bishops also spoke about flooding in Sudan and South Sudan, which they said, had become “equally destructive like the civil wars and community-based conflicts.”

What the UN describes as “deadly floods” in South Sudan, in particular, has reportedly displaced over 100,000 people.

By early October, floods in Sudan’s Khartoum state had reportedly displaced over 1,200 families.

Narrating their own experience with flooding, the Catholic Bishops said, “We witnessed this natural disaster on our air transit, and during our travel along the Nile. More areas are still threatened by overflows of rivers and the tributaries.”

“Many villages, farms, schools, health facilities and sources of livelihoods of the people have been submerged. We are hereby appealing for special attention and publicity of this natural disaster and establishment of its cause and remedies,” the Bishops said.

During their assembly, Sudan and South Sudan Bishops re-launched Small Christian Communities (SCCs) “as a pastoral program”, and expressed optimism that the SCCs would be vehicles for peace in both countries.

“We, your bishops, invite every parish, religious community, and family to dedicate daily moments of prayer and fasting for peace,” they said, and added, “Let our churches become sanctuaries of hope, where all may find healing, unity, and renewed strength. As we have launched the Small Christian Community, let us use it as a vehicle of peace.”