S/PV.8400 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representatives of South Sudan and the 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/2018/1021, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United States of America. 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.

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2445 (2018). I now give the floor to the representative of the Sudan.

I take this opportunity to congratulate you, Mr. President, on China’s assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month. We wish you every success in the discharge of your duties during the period of your presidency. I also congratulate your predecessor, the Permanent Representative of Bolivia, for his own efforts at the helm of the Security Council during the month of October. I would like to reassure you of the full cooperation of my delegation. I want to thank the Security Council for the spirit of cooperation and consensus that enabled it to adopt resolution 2445 (2018), extending the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) for six months. I thank the delegation of the United States of America, the penholder on this item, for its efforts to facilitate the negotiations that led to the adoption of that resolution. I would like to reiterate my country’s commitment to its ongoing cooperation with UNISFA in order to allow it to fully implement all elements of the mandate that was conferred on it by the Security Council in resolution 1990 (2011) and all subsequent relevant resolutions. I also underscore our resolve to cooperate with the Security Council and the penholder on this issue, the United States of America, in order to achieve our common goals of preserving and strengthening peace in Abyei, as well as establishing the pertinent mechanisms that would allow us to resolve and confirm the final status of the region. My Government reaffirms its attachment to and respect for all conventions and agreements that have been signed with the Republic of South Sudan, foremost among which is the Agreement between the Government of the Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement on temporary arrangements for the administration and security of the Abyei Area, signed on 20 June 2011, and the 27 September 2012 Agreement on Cooperation and Security Arrangements. I take this opportunity to emphasize the importance of the 2011 agreement, which is the cornerstone of all arrangements relating to the issue of Abyei, including the deployment of UNISFA. The two parties to the agreement — the Government of the Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, which became the Government of the Republic of South Sudan in July 2011 — agreed that the 2011 agreement would remain in force until the final status of Abyei had been settled. Both parties also agreed to refrain from making any amendment to the UNISFA mandate without the approval of the three parties, namely, the Sudan, South Sudan and Ethiopia, the only troop-contributing country to UNISFA. I note that the issue of Abyei should be considered in the overall framework of relations between the two brotherly countries, the Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan. Recent positive developments in our relationship with South Sudan have brought us closer to a comprehensive resolution of the situation in Abyei. We hosted the peace negotiations on South Sudan that led to the peace agreement of 12 September in order to further cooperation between the two countries in order to implement all provisions of June 2011 agreement, and set up the institutions envisaged in that agreement, including the joint administration for Abyei, the joint legislative council and the joint police force. I am sure that Council members will agree that those institutions are indispensable in order to manage the region, provide services that the people need, promote peaceful coexistence among the various elements of society, and ensure the proper conditions conducive to settling the final status of Abyei in a manner that satisfies everybody. It goes without saying that the Abyei Protocol, which is part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, is the bedrock foundation recognized by the Security Council. The Protocol stipulates explicitly that Abyei is an integral part of Sudanese territory. It is therefore impossible to review the arrangements that are based on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement without completely recognizing this fact and the consequences thereof. It is on this basis that the Sudan agreed to settle the final status of Abyei by conducting a joint referendum. In conclusion, I would like once again to express my appreciation and thanks to all our partners and friends, especially those in the Council, who have worked with both the Sudan and South Sudan in a spirit of sincerity and determination, and supported us in our efforts to strengthen peace. They patiently listened to my country’s views on the issues included in resolution 2445 (2018), which was just adopted. We would also like to thank those who strive to facilitate the work of UNISFA, in particular the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the African Union Peace and Security Council, the African Union Commission and the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel, as well as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Sudan and South Sudan. We also thank all the staff of UNISFA. We reiterate the Sudan’s determination to continue working with UNISFA in order to ensure that it can discharge all its tasks in a smooth way.

I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on China’s accession to presidency of the Security Council for the month of November. Our delegation is pleased and ready to work and cooperate with you during your tenure. On behalf of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan, I would like to thank the Council on its decision to renew the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei. We would like to thank the Ethiopian Government for its valuable commitment and dedication to maintaining peace and stability in Abyei. The Government of the Republic of South Sudan would like to reaffirm its commitment to keep engaging the Council in pursuit of finding a final solution to the Abyei issue. The Republic of South Sudan is determined to take advantage of the current rapprochement in the bilateral relations between the Republic of the Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan, as well as the current positive regional developments, to reassure the communities in the Abyei area that a satisfactory solution will be found soon.