Pandemic Can’t Slow Unaisi
“The pandemic did not mean that our work would stop. The dynamics of how we work changed. Everyone serving had to face the reality.”
Saturday 12 December 2020 | 23:38
She stood at the top of the stairs of the newly built Jerusalemi Methodist Church in Caubati, Nasinu yesterday. She was home.
This is a far cry from the time, Unaisi Vuniwaqa had decided to face reality and was ready to accept the idea that the killer pandemic could result in her death.
Ms Vuniwaqa is the Police Commissioner in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). She commands 2101 personnel from 46 countries.
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She is the highest ranking Fijian Police officer in a UN mission.
Yet in March, she had to face the reality that death was a possibility in her line of work. And if that happened, her body might not be flown back home.
“I came a week ago and will leave in January again. I will be going to serve. It is good to be back, especially after a very challenging year,” she said.
“The pandemic did not mean that our work would stop. The dynamics of how we work changed. Everyone serving had to face the reality.”
Ms Vuniwaqa, with teary eyes, said she was happy to be back home. She usually had the luxury of travelling every four months to see her family.
COVID-19 meant all that changed. The UNMISS are not only peacekeepers in South Sudan, but on them lies the responsibility of ensuring access to food and shelter for displaced people of South Sudan.
Their core duties include protection of civilians, creating conditions conducive to the delivery of humanitarian assistance, supporting the implementation of the revitalised agreement and the peace process and monitoring and investigating human rights.
Currently, there are 3047 active COVID-19 cases in South Sudan with 60 deaths.
It is a challenging role. Ms Vuniwaqa said the challenge of the work and the satisfaction of the work kept her going.
The scope of her work now includes the new normal that has been created by the pandemic.
Ms Vuniwaqa will return to work in January after spending Christmas and New Year’s here. Her youngest child, Karalaini, is 18. Three others were older than her. She will turn 55 next year but she has not hinted at slowing or stepping down from her role.
It looks as if she has decided to remain in this troubled part of the African continent for a little while longer.
