Sudan

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Barbara Woodward (United Kingdom):

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) today strongly condemned the widespread sexual violence, as well as killings of civilians, and attacks on aid workers in Leer County.  UNMISS has carried out 10 verification missions and says that 72 civilians were killed, and 64 cases of sexual violence have been recorded.

Over 1 million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have received one or more doses of the world’s first malaria vaccine thanks to a pilot programme coordinated by the World Health Organization.  The agency estimates that, if widely deployed, the vaccine could save the lives of an additional 40,000 to 80,000 children annually.

With the final status of Abyei still unresolved, an alarming recent flare-up of violence killing civilians and peacekeepers threatens the apparent calm between Sudan and South Sudan, speakers told the Council today, as that body also looked towards a possible future renewal of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) mandate.

On 8 April 2022, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005) concerning the Sudan met to hear a briefing by the Panel of Experts on the Sudan on the Panel’s work programme for 2022-2023.

Humanitarian needs in Sudan are rising to unprecedented levels due to the economic crisis, prolonged dry spells and erratic rainfall.  The World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization predict that the number of people facing acute food insecurity could double from 9.8 million in 2021 by September.

Despite implementation of power-sharing provisions of the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement, the Security Council heard today that slow realization of that accord overall — in large part due to insufficient financial support by donor countries — along with continuing intercommunal tensions are complicating the peace process in Sudan, as the head of the sanctions committee for that country presented his quarterly update.

“Visible” consensus has emerged around several aspects of efforts to establish a functional transitional Government in Sudan, the senior United Nations official in that country told the Security Council today.

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 400 civilian casualties in Ukraine have been reported since the conflict began, including more than 100 deaths.  The real figure could be considerably higher, as many reported casualties have yet to be confirmed.