Sudan

Mr. President, Excellencies, Heads of State, Heads of Government Mr. Secretary-General, Ladies and gentlemen, May the peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you. It gives us great pleasure to address you two years after the glorious December revolution, which was vouchsafed by the blood of all classes of Sudanese and gave expression to the hopes and aspirations of our people for complete freedom, peace and justice. I am also pleased to extend my sincere congratulations to Your Excellency Abdulla Shahid on your election as President of the General Assembly. We wish you the best of luck and hope that the proceedings of this session will be crowned with success. We should be remiss if we did not also express our appreciation for the efforts of your predecessor, His Excellency Volkan Bozkir, President of the previous session. The deliberations of this session come at a time when the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is casting its shadow over all aspects of life. Even as the virus mutates into new strains, poor countries are having difficulty obtaining the vaccinations they need for their peoples. The only way to make the slogan “no one is safe until everyone is safe” a reality is the path of cooperation and multilateral action. That starts with providing vaccinations to developing countries, and must include rebuilding what the virus has destroyed — bearing in mind existing international economic frameworks and above all our sustainable development agendas — in creative ways that are grounded in sustainability and environmental soundness. It is with all this in mind that we express our support for the theme of the current session, whose five components cover the concerns of the members of this Organization nicely, as they also cover its three cornerstones: maintaining security, promoting development and protecting human rights. As we confront the pandemic, we express our renewed support and appreciation for the World Health Organization, which has played an outstanding role from the very beginning and continues to provide technical support to affected States. We also express our gratitude to the States and organizations that provided us and others in the third world with support and assistance in the health sector. Mr. President, Our transitional Government continues to implement policies aimed at bringing about a democratic transformation, instilling the rule of law and improving the human rights situation. We are also working to address inherited structural imbalances in the Sudanese economy. All our programmes and policies have the goal of building a secure and stable Sudan in which all can live in peace and prosperity and citizens can enjoy freedom and justice as envisioned by the goals of our glorious December revolution. These reforms have already had an impact on the more vulnerable classes of society. We have put in place social protection programmes to support the more vulnerable classes with assistance from regional and international partners. Such efforts need support from the international community. Mr. President, With regard to protecting civilians, improving the human rights situation and enforcing the rule of law, we are implementing institutional and legal reforms, enhancing and protecting human rights frameworks, and working to achieve justice. In that connection, and in line with regional and international instruments, we have established a national human rights mechanism whose membership includes all the national parties concerned with protecting and improving human rights in the country. Over the past few months, we have ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the United Nations Convention against Torture. Mr. President, Since the transitional Government was put in place in the Sudan, we have followed a foreign policy based on mutual respect and cooperation. Our central objective has been to pursue the higher interests of the Sudan while promoting the values of good-neighbourliness and regional cooperation, in keeping with the principles of our peaceful glorious revolution and our constitutional document. We express our appreciation for the United Nations, its humanitarian agencies, and the donor community for helping the Government of the revolution to address the conditions of displaced persons, refugees and those returning to their countries of origin. The Government of the revolution has expedited the removal of all obstacles in the way of delivering humanitarian aid to affected persons in conflict zones. In its national plan, the State addresses the issue of what is needed to improve the climate for humanitarian work by adopting potential sustainable solutions for displaced persons and improving their conditions in line with international instruments and the guiding principles for humanitarian work. Here, I take note of arrangements to hold a high-level meeting to find sustainable solutions for refugees, returnees and their host communities currently being conducted at the initiative of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Mr. President, The refugee issue is an important strategic issue with a direct bearing on national security, the economy, infrastructure and the services sector in our country. As you are aware, the Sudan, by virtue of its location and other factors, continues to be a destination for refugees from neighbouring countries that are facing political, security and economic challenges. Host communities are the front line of protection and solidarity for refugees and must share scarce resources with them. However, they are not receiving the support they need. The situation of refugees in the camps is far better than in host communities. The international community must take an active part in developing those communities as part of burden sharing. We note here that even though UNHCR issued a plea last year for the international community to mobilize financing to meet needs, the response was not sufficient. The Sudan calls on the international community and all humanitarian aid organizations and donors to provide support and marshal the resources needed to meet the challenges posed by this emergency humanitarian situation. Mr. President, We place great importance on the rule of law and the national and international levels. We are making ongoing efforts to review national laws to make sure they are in line with international standards and agreements. Those efforts are happening in tandem with numerous domestic initiatives by the relevant parties to build and reinforce national capacities to enable the competent agencies to fulfil their responsibilities and tasks. Establishing the rule of law at the national level is the responsibility of States and governments, including the humanitarian aspect. The Sudan has acceded to a number of agreements and conventions in that regard. At the domestic level, we have taken a number of proactive steps to address distortions in the human rights area. Following the previous period of totalitarian rule, the most pressing tasks were to rescind several laws restricting freedoms; strengthen the position of women in society; protect women’s rights, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly; and combat impunity. We have also been eager to increase cooperation with the international community. In that regard, the country office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has been carrying out its tasks in the Sudan since January of last year. Our country continues to contribute to political and security stability on the African continent. We are an active member of regional and subregional organizations such as the African Union and the League of Arab States, as well as the Great Lakes, Sahel and Sahara regional groupings, and IGAD. As Chair of IGAD, the Sudan has made efforts to support security and peace and resolve disputes among States of the region. Post-revolution Sudan believes in the importance of good-neighbourly relations, security and stability in those States, and non-intervention in internal affairs. Mr. President, As you are aware, last July the Security Council held its second meeting this year on developments surrounding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, at the time that Ethiopia announced that it was taking the unilateral step of filling it a second time. That came after intransigence on the issue prevented the parties from reach agreement during several rounds of negotiations, despite the efforts of the former and current Chairs of the African Union. In that connection, we reiterate our position rejecting any unilateral measures. We stress that a binding agreement must be reached on filling and operating the dam, so that our country can avoid potential ill effects on the livelihoods of as much as half of the population of the Sudan. Those ill effects include threats to the operation of dams in the Sudan and irrigation for agricultural projects and drinking water facilities, as well as a host of social, economic and environmental impacts up and down the Blue Nile and Nile rivers. We have already suffered some of those impacts both from the first unilateral filling last year and from the second unilateral filling over the past few weeks, notwithstanding the contingency measures we have taken. Bringing the issue of the dam before the Security Council would promote the African Union-sponsored negotiation track towards the desired agreement. We reiterate our readiness to resume participation in any initiative or peaceful overture that might lead to an agreement that serves the interests of all parties. Mr. President, The Sudan has seen the blood of martyrs spilt over decades of tyranny, oppression and injustice. Unfortunately, despite the achievements in the short period since the glorious revolution, the transition process continues to face major challenges. Support from the international community and our friends is needed to implement the Government’s plans to reform the country’s economic conditions. Top priorities include debt forgiveness and facilitated loan access, as well as fulfilment of the pledges made at the Sudan Partnership Conference in Berlin last year and the Paris conference to support the Sudan held this year and previously. Procedural obstacles that remain even after the removal of the Sudan from the list of State sponsors of terrorism must be eliminated so that our country can return to the family of nations after having been cut off for three decades. In that connection, I should like to express the utmost gratitude to President Emmanuel Macron and France for organizing and hosting the Paris conference. I also thank all the States that that have forgiven debts owed by the Sudan and the States and organizations that have provided support for social protection to cushion the side effects of structural reform on the vulnerable classes of our society. Mr. President, Allow me to express my sincere gratitude to the United Nations, the African Union and the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), which has ended its operations in Darfur, for the many lessons learned, and is now leaving the Sudan after handing over its headquarters to the Government of the Sudan and commencing the final stages of dissolution. It also gives me pleasure to inform you that the Government of the Sudan and the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) have signed a status-of-mission agreement. The Government of the Sudan is committed to providing facilities and cooperation in support of that Mission’s goals. I commend the positive spirit displayed by UNITMAS and urge it to continue to carry out its mandate to assist the Government of the Sudan in implementing the democratic transition in accordance with the terms of reference and tasks contained in Security Council resolution 2425 (2018) establishing its mandate. Although transitional Government has to a great extent overcome challenges to bringing about peace, the challenges that come after peace remain considerable. We hope that the international community, United Nations agencies and UNITAMS will be able to play active roles in the peacebuilding process and the return of displaced persons, and provide financial and technical resource for reintegration and demobilization in implementation of the section of the Juba Peace Agreement on security arrangements. Mr. President, In closing, I should like to stress that we will continue to pursue rebuilding projects, reform our institutions and strengthen our foreign relations so that the Sudan can resume an active role in its regional and international environment, contribute to building the future we want, and help to strengthen the role of the United Nations in promoting cooperation and collective action as an effective approach to facing the challenges that threaten our peoples. Thank you, Mr. President.