Extending Sudan mission, Security Council urges bolstering of north-south peace

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) for another year, urging all parties to fully comply with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended a 21-year civil war between north and south Sudan.

In a resolution passed unanimously, the 15-member body underscored the “importance of full and expeditious implementation of all elements of the CPA,” as well as the so-called Roadmap to reduce tensions in the disputed Abyei region.

UNMIS was established by the Council in 2005 to support the Agreement, which was signed by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).

In his latest report on Sudan, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that if the CPA collapsed, a humanitarian catastrophe could ensue, and he called on the international community to remain focused on ensuring its implementation, and for Sudan to reinstate banned aid groups.

He said that the vacuum left by the ejection of the groups, following the indictment of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir for war crimes in Darfur, has left much of Abyei and eastern Sudan with little humanitarian, recovery or reintegration support, which could hurt peace efforts.

The key benchmarks of the CPA – which ended a conflict in which at least 2 million people were killed and some 4.5 million more driven from their homes – include census results, border demarcation and preparations for a referendum on the final status of areas of southern Sudan.

In today’s resolution, deploring what it called “persistent, localized conflict,” in southern Sudan and adjacent regions, the Council called on UMIS to strengthen its capabilities in conflict management and protection of civilians, working with the conflict-resolution methods of tribal groups.

It requested the Mission to prepare to assist the parties with the planned national referendum in 2011, if requested, and to support credible national elections, in coordination with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), urging donors to provide technical and material assistance.

The Council also urged donors to respond to calls for assistance to the process of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants, which has recently been stepped up and is considered a crucial element of the CPA.