Resolution 2579 (2021)
Adopted by the Security Council at its 8784th meeting, on 3 June 2021
The Security Council,
Reaffirming all its previous resolutions and presidential statements concerning the situation in Sudan,
Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, unity, independence, and territorial integrity of Sudan,
Welcoming the steps taken to date to implement the Constitutional Document, including the introduction of important economic and legal reforms, calling upon the Government of Sudan to accelerate implementation of key provisions of the Constitutional Document, such as establishing the independent commissions and the swift formation of the Transitional Legislative Council, further calling upon all stakeholders to remain committed to the transition in order for the aspirations of the Sudanese people for a peaceful, stable, democratic, and prosperous future to be realised, and reaffirming its readiness to support Sudan in this regard,
Welcoming the steps taken by the Government of Sudan to enact necessary macroeconomic reforms, encouraging efforts made by the international community to foster Sudan’s political and economic development, in particular continued efforts to provide debt relief to Sudan in a coordinated and equitable manner, and welcoming, in that regard, the international conference to support the transition in Sudan held in Paris on 17th May 2021,
Welcoming the signing of the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) on 3 October 2020, noting with appreciation the role of the Government of South Sudan in facilitating the negotiations, welcoming the steps taken to date to implement the JPA, in particular the formation of the new civilian-led transitional Government and expansion of the Sovereign Council, urging the signatories of the JPA, with the support of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), to ensure swift, full and inclusive implementation of the JPA, in particular those provisions pertaining to security arrangements and addressing the root causes of conflict in Darfur and the Two Areas, and urging the Darfuri armed movements that have forces in neighboring countries, as documented by both the United Nations Panels of Experts for Libya and for Sudan, to continue to withdraw them,
Welcoming the signing of the Declaration of Principles (DoP) on 28 March 2021 by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North Al-Hilu (SPLM-N Al-Hilu), welcoming the expressed intention to continue and increase development and humanitarian cooperation between the SPLM-N Al Hilu and the Government of Sudan, as outlined in the DoP, urging the signatories of the DoP to engage constructively to swiftly finalise a comprehensive and inclusive peace agreement, and further urging those who have not yet engaged in peace negotiations to do so immediately, constructively and without pre-conditions,
Reaffirming the primary responsibility of the Government of Sudan to protect civilians across its territory, and urging the Government of Sudan to implement swiftly its National Plan for Civilian Protection (S/2020/429), provisions of the JPA that will improve civilian protection, including the formation and deployment of the Joint Security Keeping Force and state-level protection of civilians committees, and the weapons-collection programme in strict compliance with international law and standards,
Recognizing improvements in security conditions in some areas of Darfur, while expressing concern that the security situation in other areas of Darfur has deteriorated as a result of increased intercommunal violence, and underscoring the need to intensify peacebuilding efforts in Darfur, avoid a relapse into conflict and mitigate the risks for the population posed inter alia by threats against civilians in Darfur, inter-communal violence, misuse of small arms and light weapons, human rights violations and abuses, violations of international humanitarian law and continued displacement,
Recognizing the adverse effects of climate change, ecological changes and natural disasters, among other factors, on the stability of Sudan, particularly Darfur, and stressing the need for adequate risk assessment and risk management strategies by the Government of Sudan and the United Nations relating to these factors to support stabilisation and build resilience,
Welcoming the decisions of the Government of Sudan to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance and create more favourable conditions for humanitarian actors, and encouraging the full implementation of these decisions and the full removal of undue bureaucratic processes in order to support, in accordance with relevant provisions of international law and in line with United Nations guiding principles of humanitarian assistance, including humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access throughout Sudan,
Stressing the need for the Government of Sudan to ensure accountability for violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights, including conflict related sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence, and grave violations against children, welcoming the provisions of the Constitutional Document and the JPA on transitional justice and accountability measures in this regard, further welcoming the adoption of bills on 24 April 2021 regarding the establishment of the Peace Commission and the Transitional Justice Commission, and calling on the Government of Sudan to swiftly establish these Commissions and implement their respective mandates, in a transparent and consultative manner,
Stressing the primary responsibility of the Government of Sudan to address the longstanding drivers of instability and inequality in Sudan, and to engage with other stakeholders, including civil society, women, youth, and internally displaced persons, refugees and members of marginalised communities to deliver durable solutions to Sudan’s immediate and long-term issues, including through inclusive economic growth and sustainable development, social cohesion, and disaster resilience, in line with the priorities of the Constitutional Document and the JPA,
Recognizing the important role that women played in the peaceful political transition in Sudan, welcoming the steps taken to increase the role of women in public life, government institutions and decision-making processes, further welcoming the decision of the Cabinet of the Government of Sudan to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), encouraging completion of all milestones in the roadmap for implementing the new law criminalising female genital mutilation (FGM), further encouraging the Government of Sudan’s to implement swiftly and fully the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, calling upon the Government of Sudan to take further steps to promote and protect women’s rights and full, equal and meaningful participation in all social, political, economic aspects of life, including by repealing all laws that discriminate against women and girls, and by meeting the 40% quota for women’s participation in the Transitional Legislative Council, recognizing the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls and calling upon on the Government of Sudan to ensure women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in, implementation of the JPA and the negotiation and implementation of future peace agreements, conflict prevention and decision-making and reform processes related to governance, peace and security,
Underlining the importance of integrating child protection in implementation of the JPA and future peace agreements, calling on the signatories of the JPA and non-signatory armed movements to immediately cease all grave violations against children and integrate child protection provisions, including those relating to the release and reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces or armed groups, as well as provisions on the rights and well-being of children, into all peace negotiations, ceasefire and peace agreements, and in provisions for ceasefire monitoring and taking into account children’s views, where possible, in these processes, and reiterating the Conclusions of the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (S/AC.51/2020/7),
Emphasizing the importance of national ownership, inclusivity, and the role that civil society can play to advance national peacebuilding processes and objectives in order to ensure that the needs of all stakeholders are taken into account, and encouraging, in this regard, the Government of Sudan, with the support of UNITAMS, to promote effective engagement with civil society,
Expressing grave concern about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Sudan and recognizing that this presents a profound challenge to Sudan’s health system, socio-economic and humanitarian situation and populations that have already been exhausted by protracted conflict, and emphasizing the importance of international support – financially, technically and in-kind – to the COVID-19 response in Sudan,
Underlining the importance of the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union in Sudan,
Recalling resolution 2559 (2020) which terminated the mandate of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), recognizing the progress made to date with UNAMID’s drawdown, welcoming the Government of Sudan’s willingness to cooperate fully with the United Nation and African Union during UNAMID’s drawdown and liquidation, encouraging the Government of Sudan, at all levels, to ensure full freedom of movement of UNAMID, its personnel and its contractors as well as of their vehicles and aircrafts, and urging the Government of Sudan to ensure that handed over UNAMID team sites are utilised exclusively for civilian end-user purposes,
Taking note of the Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the situation in Sudan and the activities of UNITAMS (S/2021/470),
Taking note of the letter by the Government of Sudan addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations 27 February 2020 on future United Nations support to Sudan (S/2020/221),
1. Decides to extend the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) until 3 June 2022;
2. Requests the Government of Sudan to sign swiftly the UNITAMS Status of Mission Agreement (SOMA) with the United Nations, in order to enable the full, effective and unhindered functioning of UNITAMS;
3. Decides that UNITAMS, as part of an integrated and unified United Nations structure, shall, in full accordance with the principles of national ownership, continue to have the following strategic objectives:
(i) Assist the political transition, progress towards democratic governance, in the protection and promotion of human rights, and sustainable peace
a. Assist, through good offices, the Sudanese transition, including national efforts to realise the objectives of the Constitutional Document and the timelines it sets for the transition;
b. Provide technical assistance to the constitution drafting process, the establishment and functioning of the Transitional Legislative Council, the population census, preparations for elections, in support of national efforts;
c. Support the implementation of the human rights, equality, accountability and rule of law provisions of the Constitutional Document, in particular those provisions that guarantee women’s rights, and future peace agreements, including through close cooperation with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Country Office in Sudan;
(ii) Support peace processes and implementation of the Juba Peace Agreement and future peace agreements
a. Provide good offices and support to ongoing and future peace negotiations between the Government of Sudan and Sudanese armed groups, including supporting the meaningful participation of civil society, women, youth, refugees and IDPs and members of marginalised groups;
b. Provide scalable support to the implementation of the JPA, as clarified by the parties to the JPA, and any future peace agreements, including support to ceasefire arrangements and monitoring mechanisms as set out in Title 2, Chapter 8 of the JPA, to the power-sharing provisions of the JPA, the provisions of the JPA concerning land ownership and usage, accountability and transitional justice, in particular the provisions of Chapter 3 of the JPA, and including for acts of sexual and gender-based violence, to disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR), safe and effective management, storage and security of weapons and ammunition stockpiles, and taking into account the different needs, experiences, and safety of female and male ex-combatants, including children;
(iii) Assist peacebuilding, civilian protection and rule of law, in particular in Darfur and the Two Areas
a. Support Sudanese-led peacebuilding, in particular conflict prevention, mitigation and reconciliation, community violence reduction with a particular focus on inter-communal violence, mine action, collection of small arms and light weapons consistent with international standards, durable solutions for IDPs and refugees, and their safe, voluntary and dignified return, reintegration and relocation with host populations as appropriate, including through integrated peacebuilding mechanisms in line with paragraph 10 of this resolution and political engagement at the local and state level;
b. Assist, advise and support the Government of Sudan’s capacity to extend state presence and inclusive civilian governance, in particular through strengthening accountable rule of law and security sector institutions, and building trust between state authorities and local communities, including through community-policing initiatives, or other methods of unarmed civilian protection, and providing advisory and capacity building support for security authorities, in particular through expanded support Sudanese Police Force (SPF), and the Joint Security-Keeping Force envisaged in the JPA, including through United Nations advisers and working in close cooperation with the United Nations Country Team, including through joint programming;
c. Assist, advise and support the Government of Sudan to establish a secure and stable environment within which the JPA and future peace agreements can be implemented, by providing effective support to national and local authorities on civilian protection, in particular IDPs, in the conflict-affected areas, supporting the Government of Sudan in implementing the National Plan for Civilian Protection (S/2020/429) and developing measurable benchmarks, emphasising transparency and inclusive procedures, and through deploying mobile monitoring teams, facilitating local crisis mediation, early warning mechanisms, including Women Protection networks, communications and outreach strategies with affected populations;
d. Support the strengthening of the respect, promotion and protection of human rights, in particular in conflict affected areas, including by supporting protection for women and for children from all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and other violations and abuses, through monitoring and reporting of violations of international humanitarian law and international refugee law and violations and abuses of human rights, urgent implementation of the Framework of Cooperation between the United Nations and the Government of Sudan on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), support to the development and implementation of action plans and a national prevention plan on violations and abuses against children, through women and child protection advisers and supporting the provision of medical, psychosocial, legal and socioeconomic services to all survivors of sexual violence;
(iv) Support the mobilisation of economic and development assistance, and coordination of humanitarian and peacebuilding assistance
a. Support coordination with international financial institutions (IFIs) and donors to optimise collectively UN, IFIs and donor resources in support of the Government of Sudan’s national priorities, including the mobilisation of international economic and development assistance;
b. Support, in accordance with the relevant provisions of international law and in line with humanitarian principles, and in close cooperation with humanitarian actors, full, rapid, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance;
c. Support the coordination of humanitarian assistance, including the Government of Sudan’s facilitation efforts, and through the mobilisation of humanitarian financing;
d. Ensure mobilisation and effective and integrated cooperation of United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, and promote cooperation with relevant partners, including the IFIs and donors, in carrying out, as relevant, the strategic objectives of UNITAMS;
4. Further decides that, in line with its strategic objectives and support to the Government of Sudan’s national priorities, UNITAMS should prioritise support to the following areas during this mandate period:
i. Ceasefire monitoring in Darfur, in line with the role envisaged for the United Nations in the JPA;
ii. Implementation of the Government of Sudan’s National Plan for Civilian Protection (S/2020/429), including local conflict prevention, mitigation and reconciliation efforts, disarmament, and community violence reduction with a particular focus on inter-communal violence;
iii. Ongoing and future peace negotiations between the Government of Sudan and Sudanese armed groups, including through technical, administrative and logistical assistance, in coordination with other partners;
iv. Inclusive implementation of the power sharing provisions of the JPA, including through facilitating the participation of civil society, women, youth, and internally displaced persons, refugees and members of marginalised communities;
v. The Constitution drafting process, including facilitating the engagement of civil society, and providing technical and logistical support to the establishment of the Constitutional Commission and the holding of the Constitutional Conference;
vi. The SPF and justice sector, through advisory and capacity building support, with the objective of enhancing civilian-led protection, security, and the rule of law;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to increase swiftly the deployment of personnel to UNITAMS, in order for the Mission to provide effective assistance, within its mandate, to the Government of Sudan;
6. Reiterates that the cooperation between UNITAMS and its integrated United Nations Country Team (UNCT) partners shall be underpinned by an Integrated Strategic Framework (ISF) or equivalent, and requests UNITAMS and its integrated UNCT to establish an ISF or equivalent within 60 days of adoption of this resolution;
7. Takes note of the benchmarks and indicators outlined in Annex 1 of the Report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Sudan and the activities of UNITAMS (S/2021/470) to track UNITAMS progress against its strategic objectives, welcomes UNITAMS intention to work with the UNCT and the Government of Sudan to establish a baseline and targets for the benchmarks, as well as establishing a robust monitoring and data collection mechanism to track progress against the benchmarks, encourages UNITAMS, in this regard, to also ensure effective engagement with civil society, and requests UNITAMS, in consultation with the UNCT and the Government of Sudan, to identify qualitative indicators to complement the existing indicators that are quantitative in nature;
8. Welcomes the positive dialogue established between UNITAMS and Sudanese authorities, including the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice, in coordination with the Executive Committee for coordination with UNITAMS, regarding capacity building to strengthen the protection of civilians, and, in this regard, requests the Secretary-General to facilitate the deployment of additional individual police officers (IPOs) to UNITAMS;
9. Requests the Secretary-General, in partnership with all relevant actors, including International Financial Institutions, to support the Government of Sudan in conducting a comprehensive assessment to define the country’s longer term conflict prevention, recovery and peacebuilding needs and in developing relevant strategies to address these needs;
10. Requests UNITAMS and its integrated UNCT partners to finalise the Sudan Peacemaking, Peacebuilding and Stabilisation Programme (SPPSP) and ensure implementation is sequenced and prioritised, in line with paragraph 3 of this resolution, and is reflective of available resources and personnel at each stage of implementation;
11. Encourages the Government of Sudan, without prejudice to the mandate of UNITAMS, to engage with the UN Peacebuilding Commission to help bolster international support for Sudan’s peacebuilding process and further inform the Council’s consideration of the situation;
12. Requests that UNITAMS integrates gender considerations as a cross-cutting issue throughout its mandate and assists the Government of Sudan in ensuring the full, equal and meaningful participation of women at all levels of peace and political processes, and in all social and economic aspects of life, and reaffirms the importance of gender expertise, including the deployment of gender and women protection advisors, gender analysis, including the collection and use of sex- and age-disaggregated data, and capacity-strengthening in executing the mission mandate in a gender-responsive manner, and requests the Secretary-General to include gender analysis in the reports requested in paragraph 19 of this resolution;
13. Requests the Secretary-General to include information and related recommendations on progress made towards participation of youth in implementation of the JPA in the reports requested in paragraph 19 of this resolution;
14. Requests UNITAMS to ensure that any support provided to non-United Nations security forces is provided in strict compliance with the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy on United Nations support to non-United Nations security forces;
15. Welcomes the commitment of the Secretary-General to enforce strictly his zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), requests the Secretary-General to continue to implement a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment, further requests the Secretary-General to take all necessary measures to ensure full compliance of all UNITAMS personnel with this policy and approach, stresses the need to prevent such exploitation and abuse and to improve how these allegations are addressed in line with resolution 2272 (2016), urges all member states who contribute uniformed personnel to take appropriate preventative action, including vetting of all personnel, pre-deployment and in-mission awareness training, and ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their personnel, including timely investigations and holding perpetrators to account and further requests the Secretary-General to keep the Council fully informed about the mission’s progress in this regard;
16. Requests UNITAMS to cooperate with the Panel of Experts on the Sudan established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005) in order to facilitate the Panel’s work;
17. Urges close coordination among United Nations missions in the region, including the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), and also the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the Special Envoy of Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure effective inter-mission cooperation;
18. Encourages the Government of Sudan to cooperate closely with the African Union on issues of regional peace and security, underlines that a continued strategic and political partnership between the United Nations and the African Union in Sudan remains critical, encourages UNITAMS and the African Union to ensure coherence, coordination and complementarity of their support to Sudan, including through a United Nations-African Union senior level coordination mechanism, and further encourages UNITAMS and the Inter-governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) to also ensure coherence, coordination and complementarity of their support;
19. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council every 90 days on the implementation of the UNITAMS mandate, and on progress made against the benchmarks and indicators in line with paragraph 7 of this resolution;
20. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
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