South Sudan, 2011

Allow me first to congratulate

Mr. Al-Nasser on his election to the presidency of the

General Assembly at this sixty-sixth session. We wish

him every success during his term of office. In the

same way, we congratulate the Secretary-General on

having been re-elected to a second term because of the

confidence he has won from the people of the United

Nations.

I have not been involved in global issues, being

the representative of the youngest nation in this family

of nations. Our country is just two months and 14 days

old today. Members can see how many problems and

challenges are ahead of us. I wish at the outset to avail

myself of this opportunity and the privilege of

addressing this stellar gathering to reiterate, on my

own behalf and on behalf of the people of the Republic

of South Sudan, our most sincere and profound

gratitude to the entire international community for the

warmth with which our State has been welcomed into

the community of nations. My people back home in

South Sudan, and I personally here in New York,

regard this significant moment as yet another milestone

on the long list of our achievements.

The President returned to the Chair.

I should like to seize this opportunity also once

again to salute the many who stood with us during our

long struggle. We are indebted to many friends in this

great Hall, without whose efforts it would not have

been easy for us to get where we are today. We owe a

debt of gratitude to the countries of the

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD),

the troika States, and the friends and partners of IGAD,

who waged a struggle for peace for the Sudan that

culminated in the signing of the Comprehensive Peace

Agreement (CPA) in 2005. As an emergent nation that

has been embroiled in conflict during different periods

of time, all of which add up to more than five decades,

the Republic of South Sudan stands in dire need of all

the help it can get.

In most post-conflict situations, nations would

normally expect to rebuild. That is not the case for us.

Even before the ravages of war set in, our country had

nothing worth rebuilding. Hence, we characterize our

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post-conflict mission as one of construction rather than

reconstruction, and we therefore hope that the

overwhelming outpouring of support and sympathy

that greeted our independence from all corners of the

globe will translate into tangible development

assistance for South Sudan. Our march out of the abyss

of poverty and deprivation into the realm of progress

and prosperity is going to be a long one, and that is

why we need members to partner us on this difficult

journey.

Although nature has endowed our country with

some resources, notably oil and other mineral wealth,

we hardly produce anything for ourselves — at least

not yet. We are determined to diversify the economy of

our country and lessen our precarious and near total

dependence on oil. Our strategy is to use the oil as a

catalyst to unlock the potential we have in other areas,

especially in agriculture.

Oil is a non-renewable resource that will

inevitably be depleted at some point in the future, but

we know that the land, water and human resources at

our disposal will continue to be our country’s true,

inexhaustible fount of wealth. The ambition of the

people of South Sudan is to be able to transform their

country into a regional agro-industrial powerhouse, but

without a helping hand from others the attainment of

this goal will indeed remain a tall order. Much as we

need external assistance, it is our passionate wish that

it be offered on terms that will also respect our

political and economic choices.

The Republic of South Sudan is under no illusion

that economic development and prosperity can be

achieved in the absence of a climate of peace and

stability. We shall therefore strive to promote peace

and harmony not only internally but also between all of

our neighbours and us. Inside South Sudan, we have

set up broad-based executive and legislative organs of

Government that are inclusive of key political parties.

We did so despite the fact that our party, the Sudan

People’s Liberation Movement, won a landslide in the

recent elections.

We were not deterred from installing such an

accommodative Government by the fact that we do not

even yet have in place the requisite legal framework

governing political party activity. We took those steps

not only because of our commitment to political

pluralism, but primarily because of our strong

conviction that measures of inclusion such as these can

foster peace and harmony.

In the external domain, we remain strongly

committed to maintaining peaceful and mutually

beneficial relations with all States, and particularly

with our neighbours. In that regard, I wish to affirm

that the Republic of South Sudan fully adheres to the

principle of absolute respect for the sovereignty and

territorial integrity of all States, including the Republic

of the Sudan. Therefore, the Republic of South Sudan

hereby categorically restates that it has not interfered

and will not interfere in any domestic conflict situation

in the Republic of the Sudan.

However, on account of the fact that conflict

areas in the Republic of the Sudan border our country

and that any spillover effects from those could

negatively impact our own security, we urge the

Government of the Sudan to seek a peaceful resolution

to those conflicts. We would like to emphasize in

particular that the reinstatement by the Government of

the Sudan of the recent Addis Ababa framework accord

on the situation in Southern Kordofan State and

political relations between the Government and the

opposition could go a long way towards promoting the

restoration of peace in the areas bordering South

Sudan.

There are a number of outstanding issues that

have carried over from the Comprehensive Peace

Agreement. We hope to expeditiously resolve them so

as to ensure the complete normalization of relations

between the two States and the start of a new era of a

positive and mutually beneficial relationship that will

be predicated on the commonalities shared by the

people of the two States. We therefore urge the

Government of the Republic of the Sudan to consent to

the speedy demarcation of the border between the two

States, with the help of the international community.

We hope that Khartoum will no longer object to such

an arrangement, given that South Sudan is now a

sovereign State.

We would also like to plead with the Government

of the Republic of the Sudan to agree to the submission

of our dispute over the ownership of a number of

border areas to international arbitration. The

Government of the Republic of South Sudan applauds

the cooperation of the Government of the Republic of

the Sudan in paving the way to the deployment of the

United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei, and

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hopes that the two countries will reach agreement

sooner rather than later on the resolution of the Abyei

issue, in line with the relevant provisions of the CPA.

On the economic front, South Sudan wishes to

declare that it is willing and ready to outline serious

negotiations with Khartoum. That will be done with the

aim of reaching mutually acceptable arrangements that

will guarantee for the Republic of the Sudan a fair

income from the use of Sudan’s oil export

infrastructure.

In terms of governance, we have moved to rectify

some of the defects in our system by strengthening the

pillars of good governance. A number of key bills —

notable among which is a public financial management

bill — are now making their way steadily through the

legislative process. The passage of such laws will help

promote accountability and transparency and

ultimately curb corruption and the unwarranted loss of

public revenue.

In conclusion, the new Republic of South Sudan

vows to become an active member of the global family

of nations, making its contribution to fostering world

peace and prosperity for the benefit of all humankind.