[NEAR VERBATIM]
Remarks by UN Under-Secretary-General Jean Pierre Lacroix
Thank you very much and a very good afternoon to all of you. Thank you for having joined us. As was indicated, this is a joint mission headed by Her Excellency Special Envoy of the UN for the Horn of Africa, Miss Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, and myself, Jean Pierre Lacroix, the Under-Secretary-General of the UN for Peace Operations.
We are about to end that visit. We spent a week in South Sudan. During that week, we also went to Abyei for two days and we met with the authorities there. We met with His Excellency President Salva Kiir, the First Vice President, and a number of cabinet ministers who were attending the meeting with the President.
And of course, we also met with representatives of civil society, local authorities, the Governors and other senior officials in the states of Warrap and Western Bahr el Ghazal, and, of course, with the local communities. As I indicated, we also met with the various local communities in Abyei and with our colleagues from the United Nations family, both here and in Abyei.
So perhaps by way of opening the discussion, I think one of the key purposes of that visit was to emphasize and convey a very important message, which is the continuous strong commitment of the whole UN to supporting South Sudan. We thought that it was important to convey that message at a time when, on the one hand, there are many challenges that South Sudan is confronting, but on the other hand, there are many crises around the world, unfortunately.
Some of these crises, as you know, are very much overwhelming the media landscape. And the multiplicity of these crises is putting a strain on the available resources, both in terms of resources for humanitarian assistance as well as for other activities. So, in that context, we wanted to make sure that this message of continuous strong commitment by the UN, and by the Secretary-General António Guterres, to continue supporting South Sudan would be conveyed to our interlocutors.
Now just to cover, with a broad brush, the issues that we've been discussing—and I assume there will be a few questions about those—we talked about the current security and humanitarian challenges in South Sudan, the intercommunal violence and the resulting impact on the humanitarian situation; the fallout from the events and situation in Sudan, with the resulting influx of returnees and refugees to South Sudan, again with humanitarian consequences and potentially additional security impact as well.
We discussed the process towards elections as part of the implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R‑ARCSS) and how the UN could continue to work with South Sudan in terms of accompanying it towards the holding of elections in the best possible conditions.
And we also talked about Abyei against the backdrop of the intercommunal violence that took place recently between the Twic Dinka and the Ngok Dinka, and the need to do everything we can collectively—with all those who can help—to bring about de-escalation and rebuild trust between the communities, knowing that the issue of the final status remains a very important issue, and at the same time, that the solution to that issue is unlikely to be forthcoming as a result of the events occurring in Sudan.
So I will leave it at that. I think the Special Envoy will certainly have much more to say. And of course, we'll be looking forward to your questions, with the SRSG Nicholas Fink Haysom.
I would be remiss if I didn’t end by thanking all those who contributed to this visit—the authorities in South Sudan, the communities with whom we met, and also our colleagues from UNMISS. Thank you so much.
Remarks by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Horn of Africa, Hanna Serwaa Tetteh
Thank you very much, Your Excellency Jean Pierre Lacroix. Good afternoon, distinguished ladies and gentlemen of the media. It's a pleasure to be with you.
I would also like to join my colleague Jean Pierre in thanking first and foremost our colleagues in UNMISS, our colleagues in UNISFA, and all of the government and national and state‑level officials that we had the opportunity to meet over these last few days, and the people who we met from the communities—civil society, women’s groups—who were ready to share their thoughts with us very frankly and openly. And of course, by so doing, added value to this interaction.
I would like to focus my remarks particularly on the situation in Abyei. I think that it's important, notwithstanding the fact that the final status of Abyei has not been resolved and is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon given the conflict in Sudan, to consider the administrative area as a frozen conflict—especially because it borders South Sudan itself.
The communities are very much interlinked, have intermarried, have engaged together over time, and it is unfortunate that there has been this breakdown so far.
I would very much like to commend colleagues in UNISFA for the work that they are doing for the protection of civilians. I express my condolences once again for the two peacekeepers we lost about two weeks ago while performing their duties protecting civilians.
But I also want to emphasize the need for continuing intercommunal dialogue to address the differences between the two ethnic groups, because at the end of the day, that is how this matter will be resolved—not by fighting, not by injuring, not by hurting each other, but by coming together to talk.
Indeed, this is a very momentous year for South Sudan because it could mark the end of the implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, if indeed it is possible to hold general elections. Those elections would be an important milestone in moving out of a post‑conflict phase into consolidating the institutions of state and building a stronger and more inclusive democracy.
Let me emphasize: elections are not an exit strategy for ending a peace process. They are an important milestone. They mark the opportunity to move forward. Peacebuilding activities would not end if elections were held within time. But, notwithstanding that, elections create the opportunity for people to focus attention on the important task of nation‑building.
The UN working in South Sudan—colleagues in UNMISS under the leadership of my senior colleague Nicholas Haysom, and other parts of the UN, both here in South Sudan, in Abyei, and across the region in support of South Sudan—our role is essentially to support South Sudanese to take charge of their own destiny. We are not here to continuously be part of the system of South Sudan. Ultimately, we would like to see this fully handed over to the people and Government of South Sudan, and we hope that will be sooner rather than later.
I would also like to emphasize that it is important in all of these processes to make sure that there is inclusion of women and minorities—and by minorities, I also refer to people who are disabled. We should not treat them as if they are not part of society. They are an important part of society, and they can also play a strong role in developing institutions, peacebuilding, and development as anybody else.
And I hope that over the next year, as you, as a country, grapple with the challenges of this transition, that this will be a more inclusive process. And as my colleague has mentioned, the UN will very much support that effort. Thank you.