Did the UN miss with the Protection of Civilians in South Sudan? Exploring perspectives and perceptions of the UN protecting policies for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to explore the different perceptions and perspectives regarding the UN’s Protection of Civilians (PoC) policy and the use of the policy in the ongoing peace operation in South Sudan. As the UN is utilizing the PoC policy in the majority of their ongoing peace operations, there is bound to be different perspectives and perceptions of the policy from civilians in the host countries. Therefore, this thesis explores the perceptions from South Sudanese civilians regarding the PoC policy and its implementation in South Sudan.

The study derives from qualitative research conducted in Kampala during August 2019, it includes voices of South Sudanese civilians who have lived within UNMISS PoC sites and civilians who have observed the mission from their homes. The thesis utilized a textually oriented discourse analysis to closely examine the PoC Policy to understand how it operates today. By utilizing human security theory, the study examined the PoC policy through a different lens and understands security as something more than state security. The results suggest that the civilians possess various perceptions and expectations for UNMISS and that their needs move beyond physical protection. As a result, this study concludes that the civilian population might have too high expectations for what a peacekeeping operation is able to conduct and that the present techniques for how to implement the PoC policy is flawed.