S/PV.6998 Security Council

Under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of South Sudan to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2013/404, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by Australia, Luxembourg, the Republic of Korea and the United States of America. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2013/366, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on South Sudan. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2109 (2013). I now give the floor to the representative of South Sudan.

I am very honoured to be addressing the Council for the second time within days and at a time that coincides with the second anniversary of our independence. The Republic of South Sudan reiterates its appreciation to the Security Council for its continued support for our country, once again reflected in the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) for another year. The Republic of South Sudan recognizes that it faces enormous challenges in building institutions, improving the rule of law, providing basic services, combating corruption, protecting civilians and promoting internal peace and security. We are strongly committed to improving our performance in all of these areas, but it will take time. Through the continued development of our fiscal systems and establishing zero tolerance of corruption, the Government of South Sudan is also dedicated to realigning its priorities and implementing its vision for long-term development. This vision prioritizes developing the agricultural, mining and non-mining sectors, as well as fast-tracking infrastructure development to support improvements in education, health care and the provision of clean water to the people of South Sudan. In a strongly worded speech commemorating the second anniversary of our independence, President Salva Kiir Mayardit highlighted some of the achievements of the Government over the past two years. Specifically, he enumerated several important pieces of legislation that the Government had recently enacted, including the ratification of eight international human rights treaties and conventions, the Right of Access Bill, the Media Authority Bill and the Information and Broadcasting Bill. It is our hope that these laws will provide the basis for greater respect for freedom of expression and send a clear signal about the kind of society that we wish to foster. We are aware of the security and human rights challenges facing our country. As President Salva Kiir Mayardit has often stated, our stand on human rights is inherent in our liberation struggle, which lasted half a century. The struggle was essentially a fight against discrimination, marginalization, exclusion, denial of rights, and human indignity. Universal human rights, reinforced by positive elements in our cultural values, are at the core of the legacy of our liberation struggle. I should say that we are contending for elections to the Human Rights Council, and if elected we hope to contribute on the basis of our experience, but also to learn lessons that we can apply back home and to seek and obtain the technical and material support we need to address the human rights challenges facing us. At present, we recognize that there is a gap between our aspirations to and achievement of security and respect for human rights, which can be attributed to the negative legacy of a long and devastating conflict that has left our people traumatized, militarized and heavily armed. We are determined to address these issues with the help of our friends and international partners. The Government remains especially concerned by the situation in Jonglei, which presents a challenge to our ability to discharge our primary responsibility for the protection of our civilians. President Kiir has once again repeated his call on David Yau Yau and his followers to put down their arms and join the process of building our infant nation. We welcome the Council’s concern about this situation and further welcome its encouragement to UNMISS to geographically reconfigure its military deployment so as to focus on volatile, high-risk areas and associated protection requirements. We are also fully aware of the importance of addressing the underlying causes of inter-communal violence in Jonglei and elsewhere, and remain confident that UNMISS will continue to assist our country in developing the rule of law and implementing disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. As South Sudan establishes itself as an independent country and consolidates peace and stability, our Government is aware that we live in a volatile region facing major challenges. We are reminded on a daily basis of our common interest in regional stability, given the detrimental effect that even internal conflicts can have on all of our countries and peoples. We therefore commit ourselves to working with the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and the Republic of Sudan to consolidate peace in our region. We are pleased that resolution 2109 (2013), just adopted by the Council, continues to emphasize the need for greater cooperation among peacekeeping operations in our region. I cannot stress sufficiently that the consolidation of peace and stability in South Sudan also requires the full implementation of resolutions relating to other challenges in our region. It is particularly imperative that the final status of Abyei be resolved. This requires the holding of a referendum, as agreed in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and endorsed by the Council. The ongoing conflict in the Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan regions of the Republic of the Sudan also challenges relations between our two States, not only by weakening trust and the historical bonds between us, but also by causing enormous human suffering on both sides of our border. We continue to encourage the Republic of the Sudan, in line with African Union and Security Council resolutions, to engage in negotiations with the representatives of the people of the two areas. The Government of South Sudan, as President Kiir Mayardit has repeatedly said, is ready to offer its good offices, if requested, to assist the parties in their quest for peace. The humanitarian situation in that region, alongside the legitimate political grievances of the population, must be addressed if regional peace and stability are to be achieved and sustained. Once again, we welcome the reaffirmation by this Council of the continued role of UNMISS in support of our Government as we build our institutions and meet our national responsibilities. We look forward to continuing to work with UNMISS to improve our cooperation. We take note of and express appreciation for efforts to ensure greater co-location of UNMISS staff in South Sudan. We fully recognize the requirement that UNMISS is to have unhindered access across the territory and commit to improving our communication and coordination systems in this area. The Government of South Sudan certainly does not want to see a repetition of the tragic incidents that took place last year, which led to the loss of 16 peacekeepers. Let me conclude by once again expressing our continued appreciation to Ms. Hilde Johnson, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and the entire UNMISS team for their support and continued engagement with our Government. We equally express our gratitude to troop-contributing countries for their participation in the Mission. Their support and solidarity with us are highly appreciated. As President Kiir said on our Independence Day, “Your support and solidarity at this crucial time have not gone unnoticed”.

The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council will remain seized of the matter.