El Fasher, 15 December 2016 – The African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) expresses serious concern over recent repeated attempts by a number of former staff members to disrupt its operations. They have on a number of occasions forcefully blocked movement in and out of UNAMID camps and obstructed access of Sudanese nationals employed by the Mission to their workplaces.

“We, as a Mission, take our responsibilities towards the people we serve, including separated staff members, seriously. However, we cannot condone demonstrations that are not peaceful in nature and are based on unfounded accusations and demand for payments that are not in line with the rules and regulations of the United Nations,” stated the Head of UNAMID, Joint Special Representative Martin Uhomoibhi.

The Mission confirms that all national staff that separated from the Organisation on 31 December 2015 have received all benefits owed to them for the period of their service with UNAMID, except for a relatively small group whose pension entitlements are being processed. UNAMID is working closely with the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, the body solely responsible for administering pension benefits, to finalize this category of payments.