New York (Union)
The UAE expressed its hope that the leaderships of Sudan and South Sudan will continue to support efforts to achieve peace in both countries, pointing to the continuous improvement in relations between Khartoum and Juba.
The country’s delegation said in a statement it made before the Security Council about the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNICEF): “With regard to relations between Sudan and South Sudan, we hope that the leaderships of the two countries will continue to support efforts to achieve peace in both countries, which also indicates improvement. The continuing relationship between them. “We are confident that building on this progress will contribute to a sustainable solution to the final status of Abyei,” she added.
Abyei is a demilitarized zone disputed between Sudan and South Sudan, and UNICEF supports the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism, which guarantees peace along the border between the two countries.
The UAE also welcomed the holding of the “Joint Political and Security Mechanism” meeting and its final document, stressing its aspiration to resume the meetings of the Joint Oversight Committee in Abyei with the support of the African Union.
In the statement, the state indicated that the meeting coincides with worrying developments in the Abyei area, including violence and ongoing clashes between communities, attacks on the UNICEF mission and other accompanying events that hampered the mission’s work.
“These events negatively affected the work of humanitarian organizations, especially in terms of the killing of humanitarian workers, and the evacuation of nearly 800 workers, as happened recently in the Agok clashes,” she said.
In this context, she stressed the importance of taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers.
“Dealing with these worrying developments requires promoting dialogue and peaceful coexistence to address the root causes of existing tensions and strengthening relations between communities,” she added, noting that it was encouraging to take steps toward addressing these tensions, including investigating them, and the recent signing of a cessation of hostilities by two tribes. in South Sudan.
She stressed the importance of establishing temporary administrative and security mechanisms stipulated in the June 20, 2011 agreement signed between the two parties, to ensure that these tensions are contained.
The UAE encouraged the UNICEF mission to continue to engage regularly with local communities and listen to their concerns, explaining that the preparation for holding the “Joint Peace Conference for Traditional Leaders” next May is an important step in this direction, and welcomed the efforts made by the mission, both in implementing quick-impact projects. or ensuring women’s participation in local peace processes and conflict resolution.
Recognizing the mission’s important work in a changing and challenging environment, particularly in terms of its efforts to facilitate dialogue between communities and its support for the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to all UNICEF personnel who served in the mission, and welcome the troops The new head of the UNICEF mission has already begun to reach out to the local communities and the governments of Sudan and South Sudan.”
The state reiterated the Secretary-General’s call to reactivate the headquarters of “Sector One” of the joint mechanism in “Gok Machar” and the sites of the two teams.
It also welcomed the Secretary-General’s recommendation to renew the mandate of the Mission and support for the Joint Mechanism for an additional six months, taking into account, when renewing the mandate, the views of Khartoum and Juba, and a renewed focus on engaging with all local communities and using available tools to reduce tensions.