Security Council

7152^nd Meeting (AM)

Security Council Endorses Secretary-General’s Revised Strategic Priorities

For African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur

 

Resolution 2148 (2014) Seeks Streamlining of Military, Police, Civilian Activities

Adjusting to new dynamics that have altered the nature of conflict in Darfur, the Security Council today endorsed the Secretary-General’s revised strategic priorities for the joint African Union-United Nations presence in the restive western region of Sudan.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2148 (2014), the Council also endorsed the Secretary-General’s special report of the Secretary-General on the review of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) (document S/2014/138), as requested by resolution 2113 (2013).  In that context, it endorsed the revised strategic priorities of protecting civilians, facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance and ensuring the safety of humanitarian personnel; mediating between the Government of Sudan and non-signatory armed movements on the basis of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur; and supporting the mediation of community conflict, including through measures to address its root causes.

By other terms of the text, the Council took note of the proposed adjustment of benchmarks and indicators for UNAMID outlined in the report, requesting that they be further refined to reflect the strategic priorities.  It also requested UNAMID to streamline its activities across its military, police and civilian components, taking note of the Secretary-General’s intention to reduce the police component swiftly, in order to enhance its effectiveness.

In addition, the Council noted that UNAMID faced three challenges:  partnership with the Government in implementing its mandate; major shortfalls in the operational capabilities of several troop and police contingents; and the need for improved coordination and integration structures, both within the mission and the United Nations country team.  As such, it requested UNAMID to identify steps by which it would more effectively achieve the revised strategic priorities.

Further, the Council called upon Member States to redouble their efforts to provide aviation units to the mission, and upon the Government to facilitate the deployment of assets already pledged.  On the political process, it welcomed the 27 January announcement of a national dialogue by the President of Sudan, noting that its modalities should offer an opportunity to address the legitimate grievances of the people of Darfur.

More broadly, the Council called on all parties in Darfur to remove all obstacles to UNAMID’s discharge of its mandate.  It also called upon the Government to comply fully and immediately with the status-of-forces agreement and to enhance its cooperation with the mission, while looking forward to assessing the initial impact of the review’s implementation before renewing UNAMID’s mandate in August 2014.

Speaking after the adoption, Hassan Hamid Hassan ( Sudan) said that after careful consideration of the Secretary-General’s reports on UNAMID, he agreed with the actions taken to enhance the mission, so that it could contain tribal conflicts that had jeopardized security in Darfur.  The Government supported the special report’s third scenario, entailing action on the peace process, he said, adding that such an effort would include a national dialogue with opposition groups and armed movements.  It was to be hoped that all parties would join the political process.  Despite the recent deterioration in Darfur due to intercommunal violence, Sudan was making inroads towards easing the tensions, in coordination with UNAMID, which had made many efforts to calm the violence.  Hopefully, the Secretary-General’s next report would outline improvements needed and ways in which to focus on reconstruction and prosperity in Darfur.

The meeting began at 10:05 a.m. and ended at 10:15 a.m.

Resolution

The full text of resolution 2148 (2014) reads as follows:

“The Security Council,

“Reaffirming all its previous resolutions and presidential statements concerning the situation in Sudan and underlining the importance of full compliance with these,

“Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Sudan and its determination to work with the Government of Sudan, in full respect of its sovereignty, to assist in tackling the various challenges in Sudan,

“Recalling the importance of the principles of the peaceful settlement of international disputes, good neighbourliness, non-interference and cooperation in the relations among States in the region,

“Recalling its resolution 2086 (2013) and reaffirming the basic principles of peacekeeping, including consent of the parties, impartiality, and non-use of force, except in self-defence and defence of the mandate, and recognizing that the mandate of each peacekeeping mission is specific to the need and situation of the country concerned,

“Commending the efforts of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) towards promoting peace and stability in Darfur, and reiterating its full support for UNAMID,

“Expressing deep concern at the considerable deterioration of the security situation in Darfur during 2013, with continued clashes between the Government of Sudan and rebel armed groups and an intensification of inter-communal violence, including with the involvement of elements of paramilitary units and tribal militias, which has become the main source of violence against civilians and of population displacement,

“Expressing concern at the prevalence of arms in Darfur and the continued threats to civilians posed by unexploded ordnance,

“Expressing deep concern at the impact of deteriorating security on the civilian population, including the significant increase in population displacements in 2013, and the consequent increase in humanitarian and protection needs, including related to sexual and gender-based violence and violence against children; noting that humanitarian actors were able to reach the majority of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Darfur in 2013, with the notable exception of those vulnerable populations in areas of active fighting, including the East Jebel Marra region; in this regard, expressing particular concern at reports of an escalation of violence in Darfur since February 2014, resulting in the displacement of a large number of civilians, and at the denial of access for UNAMID and humanitarian actors to the affected areas by the Sudanese authorities; and further expressing concern over the insufficient availability of funding for humanitarian actors;

“Reiterating its strong condemnation of attacks against UNAMID, and its call on the Government of Sudan swiftly to investigate these attacks and to bring the perpetrators to justice, and on all parties in Darfur to cooperate fully with the Mission,

“Reiterating that there can be no military solution to the conflict in Darfur, and that an inclusive political settlement is essential to re-establishing peace, and underscoring the importance of fully addressing the root causes of the conflict in the search for a sustainable peace, which should rapidly deliver real benefits for the Darfuri people, in this regard reiterating its support for the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) as a solid basis for the Darfur peace process, and for its accelerated implementation,

“Noting in this regard that UNAMID’s ability to facilitate progress in implementation of the DDPD is hampered by delays by the signatory parties and the absence of an inclusive political settlement between the government and non‑signatory movements, expressing concern that the humanitarian and security situation, as well as lack of capacity of the Darfur Regional Authority, hinder the transition from relief to stabilization and development activities, urging donors to honour their pledges and fulfil their obligations in a timely manner, including those commitments made at the conference in Doha in April 2013, and affirming that development can support a lasting peace in Darfur,

“Commending the efforts of Joint Special Representative Mohamed ibn Chambas to revitalize the peace process, including through renewed engagement of the non-signatory movements, and urging all parties to the conflict to cease all acts of violence immediately, and to engage in the peace process without preconditions on the basis of the DDPD, in order to bring a durable and stable peace to the region,

“Encouraging the Joint Special Representative to continue his efforts to increase the inclusiveness of the political process, guided by the Framework for AU and United Nations Facilitation of the Darfur Peace Process, and to coordinate with the African Union-High-level Implementation Panel (AU-HIP) and the United Nations Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan to synchronize their mediation efforts while taking into account ongoing transformation at the national level, welcoming in this regard the announcement by President Bashir on 27 January of a national dialogue, noting that the modalities of such a dialogue should provide an opportunity to address the legitimate grievances of the people of Darfur, looking forward to further developments towards the implementation of an inclusive dialogue process, and stressing the importance of the effective participation of women in this process, and in efforts towards peace in Darfur,

“Noting that local dispute resolution mechanisms play an important role in preventing and resolving inter-communal conflict, including conflict over natural resources, and urging an intensification of effective efforts to prevent local disputes leading to violence, with its corresponding impact on the local civilian populations, acknowledging the efforts of Sudanese authorities and local mediators to mediate in intertribal fighting, with support from UNAMID and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), and urging their continued work,

“Welcoming that, over the last year, cooperation between UNAMID and the Government of Sudan has resulted in improvements in mandate implementation, including through the more timely issuance of visas, but expressing deep concern that continued access restrictions and delays in the issuance of customs clearances for contingent-owned equipment significantly undermine UNAMID’s effectiveness, and further expressing deep concern that the delivery of humanitarian assistance is constrained and delayed by particular restrictions facing humanitarian actors, and that insufficient cooperation by the Government, particularly in terms of access, seriously constrains the Mission’s ability to operate,

“Expressing deep concern that shortfalls in the operational capabilities of some military and police components seriously constrain the force’s mobility, effectiveness and ability to deter and respond robustly to attacks,

“Noting the need for effective coordination and integration structures within UNAMID, and between UNAMID and UNCT, and encouraging swift development and implementation of a clearer strategic vision, priorities and a strategic and operational planning system within UNAMID, as well as an improved early warning and response mechanism and coordination of protection of civilians activities with UNCT,

“Recalling the AU Peace and Security Council Communiqué of 24 March 2014,

“1.   Welcomes and endorses the Secretary-General’s Special Report of 25 February 2014 (S/2014/138) on the review of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and its recommendations, pursuant to Security Council resolution 2113 (2013);

“2.   Takes note of the proposed adjustment of the benchmarks and indicators for UNAMID outlined in the Secretary-General’s report S/2014/138, and requests the Secretary-General to further refine these benchmarks and indicators to reflect the revised strategic priorities of the Mission, and submit them in his next 90-day report;

“3.   Stresses the important role of the AU in supporting implementation of the review of UNAMID; and welcomes the continued efforts of the Joint Support Coordination Mechanism, including in performing important coordination, support and liaison functions;

“4.   Endorses UNAMID’s revised strategic priorities of: the protection of civilians, the facilitation of the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the safety and security of humanitarian personnel; mediation between the Government of Sudan and non-signatory armed movements on the basis of the DDPD, while taking into account ongoing democratic transformation at the national level; and support to the mediation of community conflict, including through measures to address its root causes, in conjunction with UNCT;

“5.   Requests UNAMID to focus and streamline its activities, across its military, police and civilian components in order to achieve progress on these three strategic priorities, recognizes that their effective implementation will require certain Mission tasks to be deprioritized and requests the Secretary-General to include these tasks in his next regular report on UNAMID;

“6.   Takes note of the Secretary-General’s intention to reduce UNAMID’s police component swiftly, in order to increase the effectiveness of that component, requests the Secretary-General to provide detailed and updated information on the implementation of this reduction in his next report, and stresses in this regard the importance of effective deployment, training and operational capability of UNAMID’s police component,

“7.   Notes that UNAMID faces three major challenges in the effective discharge of its mandate, in the light of the evolving political and security environment, namely: the cooperation and partnership of the Government of Sudan in mandate implementation; major shortfalls in several troop- and police-contingent operational capabilities; and the need for improved coordination and integration structures within UNAMID and between UNAMID and UNCT;

“8.   Requests that UNAMID identify, in the context of these challenges, steps by which it will achieve its revised strategic priorities more effectively, and further requests the Secretary-General to report on these steps in his regular reports to the Council on UNAMID;

“9.   Welcomes the planned efforts on the part of the United Nations and the relevant troop- and police-contributing countries to address shortfalls in the operational capabilities of some contingents, including enhanced engagement by the African Union and United Nations Secretariat with these countries, and encourages UNAMID to move to a more preventive and pre-emptive posture in pursuit of its priorities and in active defence of its mandate, building on positive steps taken so far, without prejudice to the agreed basic principles of peacekeeping;

“10.  Stresses the need to address gaps in the integrated strategic and operational architecture of UNAMID, calls on UNAMID and UNCT to put in place the full requirements of the United Nations Policy on Integrated Assessment and Planning, including the establishment of integrated mechanisms for joint analysis, planning, coordination, monitoring, and decision-making, especially for joint operational planning for the military and police on protection of civilians; further calls on the Secretariat to assist the Mission in these tasks, and requests that the Secretary-General include steps taken in this regard in his next regular report to the Council on UNAMID;

“11.  Notes with concern the strategic gap in mobility for the mission, and the continuing critical need for aviation capacity and other mobility assets, including military utility helicopters for UNAMID, calls on Member States to redouble their efforts to provide aviation units to the mission, and on the Government of Sudan to facilitate the deployment of those assets already pledged, and requests the Secretary-General to include information on related force generation efforts in his regular reports, and on what other strategies can offset this critical military gap,

“12.  Urges all relevant actors to implement the review of UNAMID swiftly and fully, requests the Secretary-General to include in his next regular report to the Council on UNAMID specific information and operational recommendations as required on the cost efficiency and reduction of the Mission’s military, police and civilian components to maximize Mission effectiveness in the implementation of its revised strategic priorities, and expresses its intention to make necessary adjustments accordingly;

“13.  Calls on all parties in Darfur to remove all obstacles to UNAMID’s full and proper discharge of its mandate, and calls on the Government of Sudan to comply with the Status of Forces Agreement fully and without delay, and to enhance its cooperation with UNAMID on the implementation of UNAMID’s mandate;

“14.  Stresses the importance of effective monitoring and evaluation of UNAMID’s impact in order to improve its effectiveness and looks forward to considering progress in implementation of the review on the basis of the Secretary-General’s regular reports to the Council;

“15.  Looks forward to assessing the initial impact of implementation of the review before renewing UNAMID’s mandate in August 2014, and expresses its intention to ensure that UNAMID’s mandate reflects the revised strategic priorities set out in the Secretary-General’s Special Report;

“16.  Decides to remain seized of the matter.”

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For information media • not an official record