With 14 votes in favor, the United Nations Security Council voted on Friday (December 1) to end the mandate of the United Nations Transitional Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).
The draft resolution calls on the mission to “immediately begin,” on December 4, the cessation of its operations and the process of transferring its tasks, where appropriate and to the extent possible, to United Nations agencies, funds and programs United, with the aim of completing this process by February 29, 2024.
It also calls on the mission to establish financial arrangements, where appropriate, with the United Nations country team, to enable the United Nations to oversee residual programmatic cooperation activities previously initiated by UNITAMS.
Relations between UNITAMS and Sudan have been strained since April. The leader of UNITAMS was declared persona non grata.
With the exception of Russia, which abstained, the other Council countries voted in favor of the resolution, with many representatives expressing dismay.
“The UK would not have chosen to close UNITAMS at this time,” Ambassador James Kariuki told the Council. “We commend the work accomplished by the mission before and since the outbreak of the conflict. But given the unequivocal demand from the Sudanese authorities to immediately end UNITAMS, we have worked tirelessly, as editor-in-chief, to reach a compromise allowing for an orderly transition and liquidation. We reiterate that the Sudanese authorities remain responsible for the security of UNITAMS personnel and assets during this transition.
Although the United States voted in favor of the resolution, Deputy U.S. Representative Robert Wood said: “We are gravely concerned that a reduced international presence in Sudan will only encourage perpetrators of atrocities.”
The vote comes against the backdrop of the ongoing war that has already killed more than 6,000 people, driven around 6 million from their homes, facilitated sexual and gender-based violence, caused a serious humanitarian crisis and alleged ethnic crimes. .
The representative of Ghana, who spoke on behalf of African countries at the Council (A3), alerted to the situation in Sudan almost 8 months after the start of the war.
“The situation in Darfur and other parts of Sudan is worrying,” said Harold Adlai Agyeman, Ghana’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
“And we must all address the causes of the suffering of the Sudanese people, for a cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians and the provision of humanitarian assistance to the many displaced, among others. As members of the A3, we are legitimately more concerned about the situation and we will continue to engage in constructive consultation within the Council and with our partners to end the fighting.”
A paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, from the notorious Janjaweed militias, has been at war with the Sudanese army since mid-April, when months of tension erupted into open clashes in the capital, Khartoum, and other cities. other urban areas.
The conflict has devastated the country and forced more than 6 million people to leave their homes, either to safer areas inside Sudan or to seek refuge in neighboring countries.
United Nations officials say the UN will continue to try to help the Sudanese people through the continued presence of various humanitarian agencies.
UNITAMS was established in 2020 to support Sudan in its political transition to democratic rule.