S/PV.8484 Security Council

On behalf of the members of the Security Council, I would like to condemn, in the strongest terms, the heinous attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, earlier today, in a hateful act in which at least 49 people were killed and dozens wounded. They were targeted at their place of worship. The members of the Council would like to express their deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the dead and to offer their sympathy to the people and the Government of New Zealand. I ask all present to rise to observe a minute of silence for the victims.

In accordance with 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/2019/225, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United States of America. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2019/191, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on South Sudan, covering the period from 1 December 2018 to 26 February 2019. 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 14 votes in favour, with one abstention. The draft resolution has been adopted as resolution 2459 (2019). I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements following the voting.

China strongly condemns the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. We mourn the victims and would like to express our deep condolences to the families of the victims and our sympathy to the injured. Since the second half of last year, when the Government of South Sudan and the major opposition signed the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, the situation there has continued to improve. A ceasefire has been implemented in most areas, and internally displaced persons and refugees in some areas have begun to return home. China welcomes all of this. Since its deployment, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has played an important role in maintaining peace and stability in South Sudan. The international community should continue to support the Mission in carrying out its mandate. China therefore voted in favour of resolution 2459 (2019), which the Council has just adopted. At the same time, we believe that the text of the resolution still needs improvement on the following points. First, the international community, especially the Security Council, should fully acknowledge the importance and positive significance of the Revitalized Agreement. UNMISS should focus on facilitating the implementation of the Agreement in order to help sustain the current positive momentum in South Sudan. Secondly, with regard to the issue of improving the Mission’s performance, the Secretariat and the Mission’s military, police and civilian components should work together to draw on past experience in order to improve the Mission’s existing performance evaluation system. The relevant work should include the full participation of the troop- contributing countries, with a view to enabling the Mission to carry out its functions better. China is ready to continue to play a constructive role in achieving peace, stability and development in South Sudan.

We want to thank you, Madam President, for calling for a minute of silence in honour of the victims of the terrible terrorist attack in New Zealand, and we want to express our condolences to the Government and the people of New Zealand and to the families of the victims. Kuwait today voted in favour of resolution 2459 (2019). We hope that all the provisions of the resolution will be implemented during both the pre-transition and transition periods for the benefit of the people of South Sudan first and foremost, and for preserving their rights and supporting the political process. The positive developments in South Sudan are apparent to all observers. That is why we must send a message encouraging the efforts to make continued progress without abandoning our role in closely monitoring the situation there through the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. We thank the United States delegation as the penholder, as well as all our partner members in the Council who participated constructively in the negotiations.

The Russian delegation abstained in the voting on resolution 2459 (2019), on the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. However, we want to emphasize that we fully support the activities of the Blue Helmets deployed there, as they are significantly contributing to the country’s stability. During the briefing in the Security Council just a week ago (see S/PV.8480), many who were present in the Chamber noted the significance of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, signed in Khartoum in 2018. It is important that the parties in South Sudan showed a willingness to compromise and a desire to resolve their differences. Significant progress has been made in implementing the Agreement since it was concluded, and the structures and mechanisms it envisages have been set up and begun operating. The level of violence and the number of cases of human rights violations in South Sudan have also fallen significantly since the signing. An increasing number of refugees and internally displaced persons have expressed the desire to return to their permanent homes. Opposition politicians are already returned to the capital and have freedom of movement there. In that connection, we are disappointed by our colleagues’ obstinate reluctance to welcome the Khartoum agreements, which have already essentially shown themselves to be viable. In our view this sends the wrong message both to the parties in South Sudan and the leading regional Powers that put such enormous effort into reaching the Agreement. We are concerned about the fact that a document that is supposed to outline the peacekeeping mandate clearly and succinctly is overloaded with text on gender issues and human rights. Incidentally, in its list of mandates the resolution cites the latter task ahead of support for the implementation of the peace Agreement. We would like to remind the Council that general peacebuilding issues that affect all United Nations peacekeeping missions have to be discussed in the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations with the participation of the troop-contributing countries. The Secretariat’s still unfinished strategy for improving peacekeeping efficiency, the Integrated Performance Policy Framework, which is mentioned in the resolution, is one of those issues, and in our view circumventing the Special Committee is completely unacceptable. Lastly, we categorically reject the working methods of the penholders, who once again abused their prerogatives and refused to take into account the justifiable concerns of their Council colleagues, thereby preventing the Council from reaching consensus.

The United States thanks Council members for their efforts to strengthen the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) in order to ensure that the Mission supports the people of South Sudan and their pursuit of lasting peace, security and stability. The mandate reinforces the core mission of UNMISS, which is to protect civilians, support the delivery of humanitarian assistance, monitor and investigate human rights and support the peace process. Importantly, it also calls on UNMISS to strengthen its activities aimed at preventing sexual and gender-based violence, in response to the growing trend of horrific sexual violence in South Sudan. The position of the United States on the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South has been clear and consistent. We remain deeply concerned about the lack of political commitment on the part of the parties at the national level to fully implementing all the Agreement’s tenets. Having seen previous agreements in South Sudan fail to hold and the country fall back into conflict and instability, the United States and the people of South Sudan expect the country’s leaders to demonstrate a clear commitment to implementing the agreement in both word and deed. As we have stated before in the Council, we call on South Sudan’s leaders to fully adhere to ceasefire agreements, negotiate security arrangements and power-sharing agreements, agree to transparency standards for financing the peace process, take action against gender-based violence, stop obstructing ceasefire monitors, permit unhindered humanitarian access, release all political prisoners, establish the African Union hybrid court and open up the political space for peaceful dissent. Building on the accomplishments of resolution 2436 (2018), on peacekeeper performance, we are pleased that in this resolution the Council reaffirmed its support for developing a comprehensive and integrated performance policy framework that identifies clear standards of performance for evaluating all United Nations personnel working in and supporting peacekeeping operations. In conclusion, there is no bigger supporter of the people of South Sudan than the United States and we believe that the renewed UNMISS mandate will help create a path to long-term stability and security in the country.

I now give the floor to the representative of South Sudan.

I would like to reiterate my delegation’s support to your presidency, Madam President, and its readiness to cooperate with you. The Government of South Sudan welcomes the Secretary- General’s report (S/2019/191) and takes note of the renewed mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan. With regard to the adoption of resolution 2459 (2019), we would like to thank all the Council members who worked hard on the draft text. We also want to thank all the troop-contributing countries for their services and sacrifice for the people of South Sudan. We continue to urge the Council to join hands with the leaders of South Sudan, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the African Union in implementing the signed Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. The Council’s support and encouragement to all the political leaders and the people of South Sudan is absolutely critical to the Agreement’s timely and smooth implementation. There is no greater political commitment than that. In conclusion, I would like to express my delegation’s appreciation to Japan in particular and to all who have given positive assistance to South Sudan in the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement. That is the spirit we would like to see from the Council and the larger international community.