South Sudan Briefing and Consultations
Tomorrow (20 July), the Council is scheduled to receive a briefing on the situation in South Sudan from Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations El Ghassim Wane. Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) Chairman Festus Mogae is also expected to brief via video teleconference from Juba. Following the briefing, Council members will hold consultations.
Wane is expected to brief the Council on the 30-day report on the deployment of the Regional Protection Force (RPF) and the challenges the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is facing in carrying out its mandate. The briefing is likely to include updates on the current situation in South Sudan, and recent developments related to efforts to reach a political settlement to the conflict.
Deployment of the RPF, which was initially authorised in August 2016, is continuing, albeit at a slower than desired pace. To date, initial elements of the force headquarters—the Bangladesh Construction Engineering Company and the Nepalese High Readiness Company—have deployed to Juba. Deployment of the remaining contingents continues to be delayed by difficulties finalising agreement with the South Sudanese government over the use of basing sites and securing the necessary clearances. Some Council members are concerned that the deployment of the RPF has also been slowed by troop-contributing countries needing to complete their own at times lengthy deployment processes.
Fighting has continued in South Sudan, despite the limited mobility imposed by the rainy season and despite the unilateral ceasefire declared by President Salva Kiir on 22 May, which has since been effectively discarded. The South Sudanese government has announced that its forces are besieging Pagak, the nominal headquarters of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO), in the Upper Nile region. UNMISS has reported that over 5,000 civilians have been displaced from Pagak, and that some humanitarian personnel have been forced from the town due to fighting.
Mogae is expected to brief the Council on efforts to revitalise the political process, called for by the 12 June communiqué of the 31st Extra-Ordinary Summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). On 2 July, the IGAD Council of Ministers agreed guidelines and a timeframe for implementation of the High-Level Revitalization Forum decided on at the summit. The forum is intended to “discuss concrete measures, to restore [a] permanent ceasefire, to [implement fully] the Peace Agreement and to develop a revised and realistic timeline and implementation schedule towards a democratic election at the end of the transition period”. Mogae will most likely report on the commitment of IGAD member states to the process, and its next steps.
Council members are likely to welcome the progress made in the deployment of the RPF, and to emphasise the need for the deployment to be completed quickly. Members will also probably express concerns at the reported offensive by government forces in the Upper Nile region. Members may engage with Mogae on the next steps in implementing the revitalisation forum, and on options for the Council to support the forum.
As in previous briefings, Council members may raise the national dialogue process that is being advanced by the South Sudanese government. They may seek more information from Mogae on the dialogue, and its relationship to the revitalisation forum. Notwithstanding the reported outreach to Riek Machar by the dialogue co-chair, the dialogue continues to be viewed with suspicion by opposition groups.
As in the past, Council members are expected to emphasise the need for commitments by the parties to be followed by constructive actions if the crisis in South Sudan is to be resolved. Such actions would include full implementation by the parties of their commitments under the August 2015 peace agreement, cooperation with UNMISS, and the permitting of unhindered humanitarian access.
Some Council members are likely to reiterate their support for an arms embargo and additional targeted sanctions. However, the Council continues to be divided over the merits of such additional measures and Council action in this regard is unlikely.
