asked Her Majesty's Government:

What actions the United Nations peacekeeping force in south Sudan is taking to contain and, if possible, disarm rebel troops and marauding members of the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army and generally to assist the southern Sudanese forces to keep order. [HL237]

The United Nations mission in Sudan (UNMIS) is not mandated to take direct action against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Part of its role in southern Sudan is to help to implement the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) security arrangements. These arrangements are designed to improve overall law and order and to make it difficult for armed groups such as the LRA that are not sanctioned by the CPA to operate in the south.

UNMIS has provided practical support to the peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the LRA in Juba by giving the talks’ cessation of hostilities monitoring team (CHMT) access to its helicopters to monitor the ceasefire signed by the two parties in August. In addition, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs has set up the Juba initiative fund to support the talks’ secretariat and the CHMT's activities. The UK has provided £250,000 to this fund.