Mogae courts UN Security Council for support
Tefo Pheage | Tuesday February 23, 2016 14:03
He wants the international agency to be in support of his efforts to restore peace and stability in the embattled and newly-formed state.
Mogae made the plea in a videoconference address to the council on Friday where he also updated on his progress and challenges. Mogae informed the council that the progress made to date has been limited, and lags far behind the timetables specified in the peace agreement, and in subsequent arrangements between the parties.
“Despite the repeated commitments leaders have made to uphold the agreement, the test of timely implementation has not so far been met. The parties have consistently demonstrated that there is still much distrust and reluctance to overcome,” he said.
Mogae told the UN Security Council that in order to accelerate implementation of the agreement, a high level, coordinated international effort, comparable to that which led to the signature of the agreement in August 2015, must be maintained.
“The South Sudanese parties should not believe that they can bypass the agreement’s commitments, difficult though they may be, or that any divergence in the views of the international community can be exploited for partisan interests,” he said.
According to Mogae, continued pressure on the parties will remain necessary, because the limits of time and political will remain significant constraints.
Peace, he said, is the popular demand of the people of South Sudan.
“Unfortunately, amongst South Sudan’s political leadership, the threat to resort to war in the event of political dispute is all too frequent,” Mogae said.
The former president called on the Security Council to come to the party saying the United Nations has a critical role to play.
Mogae called the UN Security Council firstly, to unequivocally state that while the agreement does not offer solutions to all problems, nor fulfill all of the objectives, its genuine provisions of compromise are worth implementing in the interests of peace and reform.
Mogae further alerted the UN Security Council of the security situation in the state, saying that the continued risk of conflict, and the ongoing insecurity affecting the humanitarian relief effort, the council should demonstrate the resolve to take all necessary measures against those who seek to impede implementation of the agreement, and underscore the seriousness of the situation faced by the South Sudanese, half of whom are projected to need humanitarian support to survive.
He also called on the UN Security Council to support the African Union.
He said: “While the task of implementing vital economic, humanitarian and transitional justice processes should principally fall on the South Sudanese, the United Nations could assist in a number of these processes including the provision of support to the African Union in its obligation to establish the independent hybrid judicial body”.