The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan UNMISS is one of the most ambitious operations so far in the history of the UN in terms of local level peacebuilding. UNMISS is aiming to establish 35 County Support Bases (CSBs) that shall be a platform and a portal for early peacebuilding activities. The CSBs are part of a very ambitious plan to further strengthen the presence of national authorities on the local level. Based on a principle of equality between international peacekeepers and national authorities, each of the CSBs will co-locate local authorities with the UN, sharing the same standards of buildings, internet access and facilities. They will also facilitate access for other partners within and outside the UN system, including civil society organisations (CSOs). As such, the CSBs are carrying a great promise to the local population that the mission will be wise to heed. Unless the presences can be paralleled with service delivery and real peace dividends for local populations, they will result in anger and loss of confidence in both peacekeepers and local authorities. They will thus be a prism through which it may be possible to follow and measure to which degree the international community and the government in Juba is able to instil the trust and confidence needed to achieve ‘real’ peacebuilding from the ground up in South Sudan. The article is based on collection of field data during a one month visit in October 2011.
