After eighteen months the conflict in Sudan has had a devastating
impact on civilians.
Almost 19,000 people have been killed and 33,000 injured.
These numbers, and the suffering they mask, are unacceptably
high.
The UN reports that mass rape, torture, the destruction of
livelihoods, ethnically-targeted killings have been perpetrated
on a large scale.
I thank the Secretary-General for his recommendations on the
protection of civilians, as requested by resolution 2736. The
overarching message is clear - the most effective way to protect
civilians is an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Efforts to secure this continue: we must offer our full
support to the UN as they seek to mediate between the parties,
and we call on the parties to engage in good faith with this
process.
But the last eighteen months have also shown that we cannot just
wait for a ceasefire.
We must act now, and these recommendations are a positive step
towards more action to protect civilians. It is now for us as
states, civil society and members of the UN family to consider
how to use them.
To be successful, we must confront the context we face, rather
than the one we would want or like to see.
I note the Secretary-General's assessment that the conditions do
not currently exist for the effective deployment of a UN force to
protect civilians in Sudan.
We must keep this under review but also remember that the
deployment of UN forces is only one lever amongst
many.
We can all see that the warring parties have failed to uphold
their commitments in the Jeddah Declaration to protect civilians
and allow unfettered humanitarian access.
I urge them to establish a robust and transparent compliance
mechanism to ensure their commitments bear tangible results on
the ground.
They can achieve this, including with the support offered by the
UN. Many civilians are suffering because of direct violence. But
many more because they are starving, deliberately stopped by the
warring parties from getting life-saving help.
I strongly support the Secretary-General's recommendation that
the parties agree to humanitarian pauses to allow the safe
passage of civilians and facilitate the unimpeded delivery of
humanitarian aid.
The potential closure of the Adré border crossing
looms large. Its closure would mean millions more civilians would
be at risk.
The crisis demands adaptable approaches.
Ordinary people have stepped up and taken unimaginable risk to
protect their communities, through the Emergency Response Rooms
and other mutual aid groups.
The international community must listen to the
Secretary-General's call to consider how we can further support
those local efforts. And this requires warring parties to back
scalable, locally-negotiated ceasefires and violence reduction
measures.
I urge all member states, civil society organisations, and
stakeholders to be motivated by the Secretary-General's
recommendations, to step up coordinated, international action to
protect the people of Sudan.
