WESTERN EQUATORIA – As the rain poured heavily on the roofs of their patrol vehicles, the peacekeepers navigated the muddy roads between Yambio and Bangasu, a village located some 55 kilometers from the state capital.

Their journey was more than a mission across difficult terrain; it was a visit to a community gripped by fear and insecurity, desperately pleading for protection and the most basic of comfort.

The patrol team knew what to do. Observe, listen, ask the right questions, assess and report their findings to all relevant parties.

"Our situation is dire. We can’t access our farms, and our children cannot attend school. It is impossible to sleep at home, so we hide in the bush at night,” said Bangasu resident James Atoroba.

With insecurity on the rise in Western Equatoria, a state plagued by intercommunal violence and recent political unrest, Blue Helmets do their best both to protect the most vulnerable and to monitor serious human rights violations. They include killings, abductions, sexual violence, and children being recruited and used by armed groups.

In Bangasu, elders, women and youth paint a bleak picture of their daily life. Fear of attacks paralyze them, depriving families of their livelihoods. Women walking long distances to fetch water or collect firewood risk their lives.

"When we go alone to collect water, there is a risk of being raped. There is nobody to protect us if anything happens,” says Elina Bakuraku, adding that children are not better off.

“They miss out on an education because of the conflict.”

Bangasu’s youth, part of the more than 70 percent of the South Sudanese population aged 30 or below, are hardly thriving, either. Instead of having or dreaming of careers and a decent future, their sense of uncertainty makes them despair.

“Young people in my area are suffering. They have no freedom to move, or to express themselves. They live in constant fear,” explains Daniel Samuel, one of their representatives. “We need our government to protect us and to bring peace.”

While peacekeeping patrols come to an end, the multiple difficulties of the Western Equatorian people remain. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) continues to support the country’s population and its attempts to tackle the root causes of violence and conflict, while also assisting the government in keeping vulnerable civilians safe.

“Protecting children and others is a collective responsibility. The government, local communities and international organizations all have a role to play in keeping vulnerable people out of harm’s way,” concludes Rita Bampo, a Child Protection Officer serving with the UN peacekeeping mission and wishing for better coordination of efforts made by different stakeholders to accomplish that.