Press Releases

1. Japan has dispatched Headquarters staff personnel and Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF) engineering unit to UNMISS (United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan) since November 2011 and January 2012 respectively. Before UNMISS, Japan had dispatched staff personnel to Headquarters UNMIS (United Nations Mission in the Republic of Sudan) from October 2008 to September 2011.

South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 after the long civil war between the north and the south Sudan and the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Five years have passed since its independence, and currently domestic political disorder is a great challenge to the nation-building of South Sudan. The Government of Japan recognizes that the peace and stability of South Sudan is important for the peace and stability of Africa, and that the international community needs to work cooperatively on this issue. Currently, the security situation remains relatively calm around the capital, Juba, where the GSDF engineering unit operates. However, there have been repeated incidents of armed conflicts and killings of civilians, mostly in the regions.

Staff members of NGOs and international organizations such as UNMISS and those affiliated with UNMISS are operating in these conditions and it is possible that the engineering unit may receive requests for protection from affiliated persons facing danger. Responding to these requests is necessary for further developing cooperative relationships with those affiliated and ensuring Japan’s activities can proceed smoothly. In light of this, the Government of Japan has decided to revise the Implementation Plans for International Peace Cooperation Assignments to add on relevant tasks outlined in the International Peace Cooperation Law Article 3(5)(v).

According to the International Peace Cooperation Law Article 7(1), the Prime Minister will report to the Diet the contents pertaining to the revision and the status of implementation.

2. Major Points of Revision

• Type and content of International Peace Cooperation Assignments
  Addition of International Peace Cooperation Assignment outlined in the International Peace Cooperation Law Article 3(5)(v).
• Addition of provision for holding a National Security Council meeting as soon as possible when the UN Security Council will be issuing a renewed resolution on the activity and its time span of UNMISS, or as otherwise necessary, in order to reconfirm the stable maintainance of consent by the host country for the undertaking of UN peacekeeping operations and Japan’s implementation of International Peace Cooperation Assignments.
• Addition of provision for the withdrawal of the International Peace Cooperation Corps and GSDF in South Sudan upon deliberation by the National Security Council when there is difficulty implementing meaningful activities while ensuring safety, even if the so-called Five Principles of Participation in Peacekeeping Operations are maintained.