Attachments
I. Introduction
1 . The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 5 of Security Council resolution 2660 (2022), in which the Council requested to be informed of progress made in implementing the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). It covers the period since the issuance of the previous report of the Secretary-General (S/2023/305), from 19 April to 3 October 2023. The report provides updates on, among others, political and security developments, women and young people, peace and security, human rights, the humanitarian situation and the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism. It also highlights the ongoing challenges to UNISFA operations owing to the outbreak of conflict in the Sudan.
II . Abyei
Political developments
2 . During the reporting period, no progress was made in the Abyei political process amid the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in the Sudan, which erupted just five days after the meeting of the High-Level Committee of the Sudan and South Sudan on Abyei, held in Khartoum on 9 and 10 April.
3 . As part of the ongoing efforts by the Government of South Sudan to halt violence between the Ngok Dinka and the Twic Dinka communities in Abyei and Warrap State, South Sudan, on 1 May the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit, called upon the authorities in Warrap State and Abyei to work together to implement the elements of the agreement reached at the peace conference held in Wau, South Sudan, in April.
4 . Security forces from both countries continued to be present inside Abyei, including the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces and the South Sudan National Police in the southern part of Abyei and the Diffra oil police in the north, in violation of the 2011 Agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement on temporary arrangements for the administration and security of the Abyei Area, as well as the mandate of UNISFA. The Force continued to reiterate to both Governments the importance of maintaining the demilitarized and weapons-free status of Abyei.
5 . UNISFA continued to monitor the conflict in the Sudan closely owing to its implications for Abyei. From 15 to 18 May, UNISFA leadership travelled to Juba for meetings with the acting Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Coop eration of South Sudan, Deng Dau Deng, and other cabinet ministers, as well as with the leadership of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the United Nations country team. Discussions focused on the possible opening of resupply and rotation routes through South Sudan due to the closure of the main supply routes of UNISFA from Port Sudan and Khartoum, as well as efforts to ensure that the humanitarian needs of displaced persons arriving from the Sudan were met.
6 . UNISFA facilitated the visit of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee to Abyei from 6 to 14 July. Separately, the mission held several coordination meetings with regional stakeholders, including the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa, in Addis Ababa and Nairobi, in March and May, respectively. UNISFA engagement with the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in the Sudan and UNMISS continued through regular coordination and information-sharing meetings on matters of mutual concern, including cross-boundary security and transhumance issues.