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The UN peacekeeping mission established in 2011 to protect civilians and support peacebuilding in South Sudan, where India is the largest troop contributor.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is a United Nations peacekeeping operation established by the Security Council on 8 July 2011 through Resolution 1996 (2011), one day before South Sudan became an independent state. It is headquartered in Juba, the South Sudanese capital. UNMISS was originally created to help the world's newest country consolidate peace and build state capacity, but after civil war broke out in December 2013 its mandate was reoriented decisively towards the protection of civilians — at the height of the conflict the mission opened its own bases as Protection of Civilians sites sheltering displaced people, an unusual step in the history of peacekeeping. India has been associated with the mission since its inception and is today its largest troop-contributing country.
Type: BodyEstablished 8 July 2011 by UN Security Council Resolution 1996 (2011), a day before South Sudan's independence on 9 July 2011
Headquarters at Juba, with field offices across South Sudan's states
Four mandate pillars: protection of civilians; creating conditions for the delivery of humanitarian assistance; supporting implementation of the Revitalised Peace Agreement and the wider peace process; and monitoring, investigating and reporting violations of international human rights and humanitarian law
Authorised under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which permits the use of force to protect civilians — not a purely consent-based observer mission
Mandate renewed annually by the Security Council; Resolution 2820 (2026) extended it for a further year and set a troop ceiling of 12,500 uniformed personnel and a police ceiling of 2,101
Protection of Civilians (POC) sites — UN bases opened to shelter civilians fleeing violence after December 2013, later progressively transitioned to conventional displacement camps under national authority
Supports implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), signed at Addis Ababa on 12 September 2018 under the auspices of IGAD
India is the largest troop contributor to UNMISS, with about 1,775 military personnel as of April 2026
Frequency: Moderate — UN peacekeeping missions have been directly examined in UPSC Prelims, and Indian peacekeeper honours in South Sudan recur as current-affairs items
UNMISS was born out of the settlement of Africa's longest civil war and then had to be redesigned within thirty months when the new country collapsed into conflict of its own.
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement ends the second Sudanese civil war and provides for a referendum on southern self-determination
An internationally monitored referendum records an overwhelming vote for separation
The Security Council establishes UNMISS by Resolution 1996 (2011)
South Sudan becomes independent; it is admitted to the UN as the 193rd member state on 14 July 2011
Civil war breaks out; UNMISS opens its bases as Protection of Civilians sites and the Security Council reorients the mandate towards protecting civilians
The Revitalised Agreement (R-ARCSS) is signed at Addis Ababa under IGAD auspices
A transitional government of national unity is formed; POC sites are progressively transitioned to conventional camps under national responsibility, and elections are repeatedly postponed
Resolution 2820 (2026) extends the mandate for one year with a reduced troop ceiling of 12,500 and a police ceiling of 2,101
UN Security Council
Creates, mandates and renews all UN peacekeeping operations, including UNMISS
UN Department of Peace Operations (DPO)
Directs and supports peacekeeping missions in the field
IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development)
East African regional bloc that brokered the 2018 Revitalised Peace Agreement and leads regional mediation
African Union
Regional partner in peace and security in South Sudan; its Peace and Security Council engages on the crisis
UNISFA
The separate UN Interim Security Force for Abyei, the disputed area between Sudan and South Sudan — frequently confused with UNMISS
UN peacekeeping rests on three traditional principles — consent of the parties, impartiality, and the non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate. UNMISS illustrates how far the third principle has moved: authorised under Chapter VII, it may use force to protect civilians, and it did so in a country where the government itself was a party to the conflict. That creates the central tension of modern peacekeeping, since a mission depends on host-state consent for freedom of movement while being mandated to report on that same state's human rights violations. For India the mission matters for a second reason. India has been among the largest suppliers of peacekeepers since 1950 and is the top contributor to UNMISS, yet it holds no permanent seat on the Security Council that writes these mandates — which is the standard argument in India's case for Security Council reform, and a ready example for any Mains answer on the gap between contribution and decision-making power in the UN system.
8 July 2011, by UNSC Resolution 1996 (2011)
Juba, South Sudan
Chapter VII of the UN Charter
12,500 uniformed personnel
2,101
About 1,775 military personnel as of April 2026 — the largest single contributor
4,268 personnel as of 31 March 2026 — second-largest contributor globally, after Nepal
9 July 2011
14 July 2011 — the 193rd member state
Signed 12 September 2018, Addis Ababa, under IGAD
UNMISS — established 8 July 2011 by UNSC Resolution 1996 (2011); HQ Juba; Chapter VII mandate
South Sudan independent 9 July 2011; 193rd UN member on 14 July 2011; capital Juba; landlocked, on the White Nile
Four pillars: protect civilians; enable humanitarian delivery; support the peace agreement; monitor and report human rights violations
Resolution 2820 (2026): mandate extended one year; ceilings of 12,500 troops and 2,101 police
India is the LARGEST troop contributor to UNMISS — about 1,775 personnel (April 2026)
India overall: 4,268 UN peacekeepers as of 31 March 2026, second only to Nepal
R-ARCSS signed 12 September 2018 at Addis Ababa, brokered by IGAD
Do not confuse with UNISFA (Abyei) or the closed UNAMID (Darfur)
On 8 July 2011, by UN Security Council Resolution 1996 (2011) — one day before South Sudan became independent on 9 July 2011.
Four pillars: protecting civilians; creating conditions for the delivery of humanitarian assistance; supporting implementation of the Revitalised Peace Agreement; and monitoring, investigating and reporting violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
India, with about 1,775 military personnel as of April 2026. India is also the second-largest contributor to UN peacekeeping overall, after Nepal.
In Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
The Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, signed at Addis Ababa on 12 September 2018 under the auspices of IGAD. Supporting its implementation is one of UNMISS's four mandate pillars.