Allow me first to congratulate
Mr. Al-Nasser on his election to the presidency of the
General Assembly at this sixty-sixth session. We wish
him every success during his term of office. In the
same way, we congratulate the Secretary-General on
having been re-elected to a second term because of the
confidence he has won from the people of the United
Nations.
I have not been involved in global issues, being
the representative of the youngest nation in this family
of nations. Our country is just two months and 14 days
old today. Members can see how many problems and
challenges are ahead of us. I wish at the outset to avail
myself of this opportunity and the privilege of
addressing this stellar gathering to reiterate, on my
own behalf and on behalf of the people of the Republic
of South Sudan, our most sincere and profound
gratitude to the entire international community for the
warmth with which our State has been welcomed into
the community of nations. My people back home in
South Sudan, and I personally here in New York,
regard this significant moment as yet another milestone
on the long list of our achievements.
The President returned to the Chair.
I should like to seize this opportunity also once
again to salute the many who stood with us during our
long struggle. We are indebted to many friends in this
great Hall, without whose efforts it would not have
been easy for us to get where we are today. We owe a
debt of gratitude to the countries of the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD),
the troika States, and the friends and partners of IGAD,
who waged a struggle for peace for the Sudan that
culminated in the signing of the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA) in 2005. As an emergent nation that
has been embroiled in conflict during different periods
of time, all of which add up to more than five decades,
the Republic of South Sudan stands in dire need of all
the help it can get.
In most post-conflict situations, nations would
normally expect to rebuild. That is not the case for us.
Even before the ravages of war set in, our country had
nothing worth rebuilding. Hence, we characterize our
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post-conflict mission as one of construction rather than
reconstruction, and we therefore hope that the
overwhelming outpouring of support and sympathy
that greeted our independence from all corners of the
globe will translate into tangible development
assistance for South Sudan. Our march out of the abyss
of poverty and deprivation into the realm of progress
and prosperity is going to be a long one, and that is
why we need members to partner us on this difficult
journey.
Although nature has endowed our country with
some resources, notably oil and other mineral wealth,
we hardly produce anything for ourselves — at least
not yet. We are determined to diversify the economy of
our country and lessen our precarious and near total
dependence on oil. Our strategy is to use the oil as a
catalyst to unlock the potential we have in other areas,
especially in agriculture.
Oil is a non-renewable resource that will
inevitably be depleted at some point in the future, but
we know that the land, water and human resources at
our disposal will continue to be our country’s true,
inexhaustible fount of wealth. The ambition of the
people of South Sudan is to be able to transform their
country into a regional agro-industrial powerhouse, but
without a helping hand from others the attainment of
this goal will indeed remain a tall order. Much as we
need external assistance, it is our passionate wish that
it be offered on terms that will also respect our
political and economic choices.
The Republic of South Sudan is under no illusion
that economic development and prosperity can be
achieved in the absence of a climate of peace and
stability. We shall therefore strive to promote peace
and harmony not only internally but also between all of
our neighbours and us. Inside South Sudan, we have
set up broad-based executive and legislative organs of
Government that are inclusive of key political parties.
We did so despite the fact that our party, the Sudan
People’s Liberation Movement, won a landslide in the
recent elections.
We were not deterred from installing such an
accommodative Government by the fact that we do not
even yet have in place the requisite legal framework
governing political party activity. We took those steps
not only because of our commitment to political
pluralism, but primarily because of our strong
conviction that measures of inclusion such as these can
foster peace and harmony.
In the external domain, we remain strongly
committed to maintaining peaceful and mutually
beneficial relations with all States, and particularly
with our neighbours. In that regard, I wish to affirm
that the Republic of South Sudan fully adheres to the
principle of absolute respect for the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of all States, including the Republic
of the Sudan. Therefore, the Republic of South Sudan
hereby categorically restates that it has not interfered
and will not interfere in any domestic conflict situation
in the Republic of the Sudan.
However, on account of the fact that conflict
areas in the Republic of the Sudan border our country
and that any spillover effects from those could
negatively impact our own security, we urge the
Government of the Sudan to seek a peaceful resolution
to those conflicts. We would like to emphasize in
particular that the reinstatement by the Government of
the Sudan of the recent Addis Ababa framework accord
on the situation in Southern Kordofan State and
political relations between the Government and the
opposition could go a long way towards promoting the
restoration of peace in the areas bordering South
Sudan.
There are a number of outstanding issues that
have carried over from the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement. We hope to expeditiously resolve them so
as to ensure the complete normalization of relations
between the two States and the start of a new era of a
positive and mutually beneficial relationship that will
be predicated on the commonalities shared by the
people of the two States. We therefore urge the
Government of the Republic of the Sudan to consent to
the speedy demarcation of the border between the two
States, with the help of the international community.
We hope that Khartoum will no longer object to such
an arrangement, given that South Sudan is now a
sovereign State.
We would also like to plead with the Government
of the Republic of the Sudan to agree to the submission
of our dispute over the ownership of a number of
border areas to international arbitration. The
Government of the Republic of South Sudan applauds
the cooperation of the Government of the Republic of
the Sudan in paving the way to the deployment of the
United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei, and
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hopes that the two countries will reach agreement
sooner rather than later on the resolution of the Abyei
issue, in line with the relevant provisions of the CPA.
On the economic front, South Sudan wishes to
declare that it is willing and ready to outline serious
negotiations with Khartoum. That will be done with the
aim of reaching mutually acceptable arrangements that
will guarantee for the Republic of the Sudan a fair
income from the use of Sudan’s oil export
infrastructure.
In terms of governance, we have moved to rectify
some of the defects in our system by strengthening the
pillars of good governance. A number of key bills —
notable among which is a public financial management
bill — are now making their way steadily through the
legislative process. The passage of such laws will help
promote accountability and transparency and
ultimately curb corruption and the unwarranted loss of
public revenue.
In conclusion, the new Republic of South Sudan
vows to become an active member of the global family
of nations, making its contribution to fostering world
peace and prosperity for the benefit of all humankind.