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Situation in Abyei - Report of the Secretary-General (S/2024/740) [EN/AR/RU/ZH]

Attachments

I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 5 of Security Council resolution 2708 (2023), in which the Council requested to be informed of progress 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/2024/354), from 16 April to 1 October 2024. The report provides updates on, inter alia, political and security developments, women and youth and peace and security, human rights and the humanitarian situation, as well as on the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism. It also provides updates on the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Sudan on Abyei and on UNISFA operations.

II. Abyei

Political developments

2. The Abyei political process continued to be affected by the ongoing conflict in the Sudan, as well as the political uncertainty in South Sudan, with no progress regarding the resolution of the final status of Abyei and border issues during the reporting period. The United Nations continued to engage with the Governments of the Sudan and South Sudan to reiterate its readiness to support re-engagement on the final status of Abyei and border issues once conditions permit, in coordination with the African Union. The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa, Hanna Serwaa Tetteh, continued to engage the parties, as well as interlocutors in Abyei and other stakeholders, to stress the need for stability in Abyei.

3. As at the end of the reporting period, an estimated 400 South Sudanese security personnel, comprising approximately 300 South Sudan People’s Defence Forces personnel and 100 South Sudan National Police Service members, were deployed in southern Abyei. In meetings with UNISFA, South Sudanese authorities have indicated that their aim is to deescalate intercommunal violence in southern Abyei. This deployment represents a decrease from the levels estimated at the end of the previous reporting period. Nonetheless, the presence of South Sudanese security personnel is a violation of the 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 of 20 June 2011.

4. UNISFA engaged the Government of South Sudan both in person and in a note verbale on 17 May to call for the withdrawal of South Sudanese security forces from the Abyei area, stressing that their presence constituted a violation of the Agreement of 20 June 2011 and the demilitarized and weapons-free status of Abyei.

5. UNISFA leadership conducted two visits to Juba to meet with senior representatives of the Government of South Sudan to discuss priority issues, including tensions between the Ngok Dinka and Twic Dinka communities in southern Abyei, the presence of South Sudanese security forces in southern Abyei and challenges in the implementation of the mission’s mandate. UNISFA continued to call for the support of the Government of South Sudan in re-establishing the presence of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism in its Sector 1, including the Sector headquarters in Gok Machar and its two team sites.

6. UNISFA continued its engagement with the Government of the Sudan regarding the situation in Abyei and the implementation of the mission’s mandate. On 3 July, the Sovereign Council of the Sudan appointed Hamed Manan Mohammed Mirghani as Co-Chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee. On 3 August, the Sovereign Council of the Sudan issued a constitutional decree appointing Salouma Musa Yahya Boushara as the Sudan-appointed Chief Administrator for Abyei.