Madame President,
I thank the briefers for their comprehensive overview.
A year has passed since Estonia first spoke about UNMISS in the Security Council. In a year, the government has been formed, governors appointed and states have been allocated. Some parties have adhered to the 35 per cent quota for women in their appointments. Estonia duly welcomes these developments. However, we must stay alert and not take any rash decisions that could jeopardize what the country has achieved so far. What we need to see is how the government and governors work together towards implementing the peace agreement.
In the light of some seemingly positive developments, we must not turn a blind eye on everything else. The security sector reform is behind schedule due to lack of a coherent strategy, funding, and most importantly – political will. The establishment of key transitional justice institutions, like the Hybrid Courts, has not been implemented.
Serious and widespread violations and abuses continued last year. There was a 146% increase in incidents, with a 120% increase in the number of civilian victims documented. These are the hard facts on the ground, which matter the most to us. Sub-national violence skyrocketed in 2020 and the linkages between local conflicts and national dynamics persist. It is very worrying that civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, including conflict related sexual violence. It is disheartening to read about continuing incidents of conflict related sexual violence, including rape, perpetrated by the parties to the conflict and civil defence groups. In this regard, we commend the conviction of soldiers for conflict related sexual violence offenses and we hope that this will build momentum towards accountability. Impunity must be dealt with and we truly hope that the appointment of state governors can turn the situation around.
The humanitarian situation is a source of great concern. As the Secretary General’s report mentioned, compared to last year, there’s an increase of close to 1 million people that need assistance. In total, over 70% of the population of South Sudan needs assistance. Food security situation is getting worse and the numbers for acute malnutrition for children under five years of age have not been that high since the start of the crisis in December 2013. It is, however, proving to be even more difficult to aid the people in need, as the humanitarian access has deteriorated. SOFA violations are sadly still occurring, which makes the job of UNMISS personnel in many cases impossible, leaving civilians without much needed help and protection. In addition to that, there have been unacceptable cases of soldiers raiding and looting warehouses containing humanitarian aid, which is a clear violation of resolution 2417.
Last, but not least, I would like to thank David Shearer for his incredible dedication and work for leading UNMISS. We also want to thank and highlight the work of the humanitarian organisations that have helped the people in South Sudan.
I thank you, Madame President.