Secretary-General Hails Establishment of Sudan-South Sudan Joint Border Mechanisms

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General welcomes the agreement signed today by Sudan and South Sudan on the establishment of the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone, the deployment of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism, and the activation of all security-related mechanisms as of 10 March 2013.  With this agreement, there should be no further conditions in the way of immediate implementation of the other signed 27 September agreements, including the agreement on oil.

The Secretary-General reiterates the United Nations readiness to support the operations of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism, and assist the parties in the implementation of these agreements.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record