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SC / 14354
Welcoming the recent political rapprochement between Sudan and South Sudan but calling on these countries to make further progress on border issues, the Security Council today renewed the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) until 15 May 2021.
By unanimously adopting Resolution 2550 (2020) and acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Council maintained the authorized UNISFA troop ceiling at 3,550 and the authorized police ceiling at 640 staff members, including 148 individual police officers and three unit-trained police officers.
Through the resolution, the Council also maintained, for the duration of the extension of the mandate, the Mission’s support for the joint border verification and monitoring mechanism, which monitors the Sudan-South Sudan border. However, as in previous resolutions, it decided that this support would end without measurable progress on the delimitation of borders in several specific areas.
Emphasizing that the parties have made no progress in establishing joint institutions in Abyei over the course of nine years, the Council encouraged them to engage in substantive dialogue and to move forward in the political process for resolving the Abyei dispute. It also called for a responsible exit strategy for UNISFA to be developed through dialogue between all stakeholders, with a report on options released by March 2021.
In order for UNISFA to complete its mandate towards such an exit, the Council requested that the parties provide full support to the Mission in the deployment of personnel and promptly issue visas without prejudice to their nationality and remove obstacles in other key areas.
He also asked the parties to allow and facilitate all necessary humanitarian assistance, adding that such assistance should be consistent with “the UN guiding principles of humanitarian assistance, including humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence”.
Following the adoption of the project, the US representative expressed thanks for the Council’s continued support for UNISFA, as well as for Ethiopia’s cooperation with the Mission. He called on Sudan and South Sudan to maintain the momentum of their recent political agreements and to move forward in resolving the outstanding issues in Abyei. He added that a responsible exit strategy needed to be developed alongside these efforts.
The representative of Germany also welcomed the extension of the mandate, but expressed a strong objection to the wording relating to unhindered humanitarian assistance. He stressed that he did not recognize any subordination of international humanitarian principles to other guiding principles of the United Nations.
The meeting started at 10:05 and ended at 10:10
For information media. It is not an official record.
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