UN support for Sudan will be mainly political: diplomat
February 10, 2020 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s demand for a peace support operation intends to create a political mission with a very little component to help fulfil peace requirements, said the country’s delegate to the United Nations.
Sudan Tribune on Sunday disclosed a letter by Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok requesting the UN Security Council to establish a peace support operation under Chapter VI in the form of a “special political mission with a strong peacebuilding component”.
Following what the government’s critics and Islamists supporters of the former regime launched a campaign on the social media saying that Hamdok has failed to achieve the goals of the transition and wants to put the country under international trusteeship.
Ambassador Omer al-Siddiq issued on Sunday a statement to clarify Hamdok’s request saying it had created a lot of misunderstanding about the content of his letter.
He stressed that what the Prime Minister requested is a special political mission in accordance with Article VI of the UN Charter, in preparation for the end of peacekeeping missions pointing this step is applied in all countries that have emerged from conflicts such as Colombia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Liberia and others.
“By virtue of the formation of the special political mission, the military component will not be large. It will be limited in number to follow up on what is agreed upon in the security arrangements issues in the upcoming peace agreement,” he said.
The Sudanese representative indicated that the civil component will be the most predominant in number and be tasked with the implementation of projects and needs determined by the government of Sudan in accordance with its priorities, stressing “that means that the special political mission will work according to what is determined by the government of Sudan.”
Those who write opposing this step forget the enormous needs required to achieve his peace in Sudan, he further said.
The Sudanese government says the within the framework of this new mission the international community can support the implementation of the peace agreements with the armed groups in Darfur, the Two Areas.
The Sudanese diplomat pointed to the resettlement programme for the return of IPDs to their areas of origin which require to provide them with the basic services and to rehabilitate the roads and other infrastructures.
“Can the current economic situation (of the country) allows to address the resettlement of these people and provide them with the needed for a decent life ?”.
He further pointed out that the UN has the expertise and the capacity to bring in financial resources from the international community and financial institutions.
On Sunday, the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Hamdok, in the margins of the AU Summit in Addis Ababa.
The UN Spokesperson office issued a statement after the meeting saying that Guterres and Hamdok discussed the political transition, the peace process and the transition from peacekeeping to peacebuilding in Darfur.
“The Secretary-General commended Prime Minister Hamdok for the ongoing reform efforts and pledged the United Nations’ full support to Sudan”.
(ST)