S/PV.8744 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2020/197, 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/2020/145, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in South Sudan. 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 2514 (2020). I shall now give the floor to members of the Council who wish to make statements after the voting.

The United States thanks Council members and the Permanent Mission of South Sudan for their engagement in renewing and improving the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). For the first time in many years, the UNMISS mandate was renewed in the context of positive developments. The United States reiterates its support for the decision by South Sudan’s leaders to form a new transitional Government. We also recognize that the hard work of implementing the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan is just beginning, and we urge the transitional Government to begin this reform process immediately. As the new transitional Government begins operations, UNMISS will continue to have a critical role to play in maintaining peace and stability in South Sudan. The mandate before us today reinforces the core mission of UNMISS: to protect civilians, support the delivery of humanitarian assistance, support the implementation of the peace agreement, and monitor and investigate human rights. The mandate also encourages UNMISS to be more mobile and responsive to emerging threats, including in areas to which people may return after years of fleeing violence. The leaders of South Sudan must remain focused on addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of their people, respecting human rights and ensuring accountability, including for sexual and gender-based violence. There are too many people, especially women and children, whose rights have not been adequately safeguarded during this conflict and who have lived in fear as a result. The current UNMISS mandate enables it to be an important partner in protecting those rights and in meeting the needs of the country’s people. There is no greater supporter of the people of South Sudan than the United States. We want the very best for South Sudan, and we believe that the renewed UNMISS mandate will help to create a path towards the long- term stability and security for which the people of South Sudan have longed over these many years.

We very much welcome the unanimous adoption of resolution 2514 (2020). The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) remains indispensable to supporting South Sudan and its people. I pay tribute to Special Representative of the Secretary-General Shearer and the brave peacekeepers who do their utmost to assist the people of South Sudan in their quest for durable peace. The German Parliament just today voted in favour of the continuation of our military contribution to UNMISS for another year, unchanged in numbers and capabilities. Germany will continue to stand by the people of South Sudan. We reiterate our call on the South Sudanese parties to fully adhere to the letter and spirit of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. We encourage them to implement outstanding critical tasks, as stipulated by the Agreement, so that the people of South Sudan can finally enjoy the benefits of durable peace. I want to highlight the following point in particular. While we are pleased to see a reference in the text regarding the adverse effects of extreme weather events on the stability of South Sudan, we are disappointed that a reference to the security implications of the effects of climate change was not included despite overwhelming support for our proposal from the majority of Council members. In his most recent briefing to the Security Council (see S/PV.8741), Special Representative of the Secretary-General Shearer clearly linked the effects of the unprecedented floods in certain areas of the country to a spike in intercommunal violence in precisely those areas. Climate change and its related extreme weather events have started affecting yet another conflict on the Council’s agenda. Since at least 2011, the Security Council has repeatedly expressed its concern that the effects of climate change may aggravate existing threats to international peace and security and underlined the importance of conflict analysis and contextual information, including on the security implications of climate change in relevant situations. As the Security Council, we need to look at the situation more closely with a view to including the effects of climate change in our overall assessment and decision-making. To do so, we need a proper information basis, including a substantial risk assessment. By including a reference to climate change in the language of the resolution, we wanted to encourage the appropriate observation and analysis in the future, which would enable all actors, and in particular the Security Council, to better address this underlying cause of conflict. Turning a blind eye will not make a threat multiplier such as climate change disappear. Disregarding it and assessing the country situation selectively jeopardize the effectiveness of the Council’s work.