South Sudan, 2014

I congratulate you, Mr. President,

your country, Uganda, and the African continent on

your election to the presidency of the Assembly at its

sixty-ninth session. My delegation and I pledge our

full support to you, Sir, in this important mission. I

also wish to congratulate Ambassador John Ashe for

successfully completing his term.

We are all bound by our moral duty and legal

obligations to address the challenges confronting the

world today. We need to act in solidarity to promote

global peace and security for the good of our nations.

In this context, I urge the United Nations and all Heads

of State and Government to support the current peace

initiatives in the world, especially those in the Middle

East, the Central African Republic, Somalia, Mali, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic

of South Sudan. We need to find appropriate ways

and means to end these conflicts and many others in

the world, and to pave the way for all the nations and

peoples of the world to live in peace and to enjoy their

basic rights.

In addition, the Security Council needs to be

strengthened to deal with new global challenges.

Therefore, we support the call of the African leaders

for a comprehensive review of the Security Council

to ensure that Africa and the other continents are well

represented in this important international body, in

accordance with the African position as stipulated by

the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration. This

will create a more inclusive Security Council and

empower all the continents to play a greater and more

effective role in promoting global peace and security

for the benefit of the human race. More importantly, it

will ensure that the Security Council continues to fulfil

its purpose and be more able to achieve its mandate.

The journey of my people from conflict to

peace, independence and freedom was costly.

It was characterized by economic and political

marginalization, a prolonged war, humanitarian

disasters, the loss of millions of lives and untold human

suffering. At independence, we acquired a country with

a multitude of challenges, ranging from weak national

institutions and inadequate physical infrastructure to

limited human capacity and weak security mechanisms.

We are grateful the international community for its

support and for continuing to provide humanitarian and

development assistance.

I have no doubt that the world has followed with

shock and disbelief the violent conflict that erupted

in South Sudan on Sunday, 15 December 2013, which

was plotted by my former Vice-President, who wanted

to seize power by force. He was too impatient in his

thirst for power. He did not want to wait for the general

elections scheduled to take place in 2015, when he could

have sought a mandate from the people of South Sudan,

as required by our transitional Constitution. The failed

coup and the ensuing rebellion resulted in the loss of

many innocent lives, the destruction of property and

damaged community relationships. However, the coup

was foiled, and the Government is continuing to defend

the country and the people against the rebellion.

The Government and the people of South Sudan

take this opportunity to thank the United Nations,

the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority

for Development (IGAD) and the entire international

community for their prompt action to restore peace and

stability in my country. My Government is unwaveringly

committed to resolving the conflict peacefully, and my

negotiating team has been in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,

since January, talking with the rebels about peace,

in order to close a dark chapter in the history of our

young country and, on a new page, to pave the way

for us once again to embark on the difficult mission of

socioeconomic development, which our people urgently

need.

With the dedicated efforts of the mediators,

we were able to sign an agreement on cessation of

hostilities between the Government of the Republic

of South Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation

Movement/Army in Opposition on 23 January and to

reaffirm our commitment to the agreement on 9 May.

My Government has demonstrated its firm commitment

to peace, has unreservedly honoured those agreements

and is continuing to negotiate in good faith to find a

peaceful solution to the conflict. However, the rebels

have violated the agreements too many times and have

refused to sign the Protocol Agreement, which is a

crucially important document signed by the Heads

of State and Government of IGAD, including myself

as a party to the conflict. That important document

forms the basis for resolving the crisis peacefully

and inclusively. Therefore, I urge the international

community to prevail on the rebels to sign the Protocol

Agreement.

We appreciate the fact that the international

community is rightly concerned about the humanitarian

crisis and human rights abuses that resulted from

the failed coup and the rebellion. In that regard, my

Government has ordered an investigation into those

abuses and has also accepted to cooperate with the

Commission of Inquiry formed by the African Union to

carry out investigations into allegations of human rights

violations. We are determined to hold accountable

those who are found responsible, as we do not condone

impunity under any circumstances.

My Government recently signed into law provisions

to guarantee freedom of expression in the media. It has

also ratified three United Nations core conventions,

namely, the Convention on the Elimination of

All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman

or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its first

Optional Protocol; and the Convention on the Rights

of the Child, the Optional Protocol on the involvement

of children in armed conflict and the Optional Protocol

on the sale of children, child prostitution and child

pornography. Those are all positive measures put in

place to address some of the concerns.

The conflict in South Sudan is purely a political

struggle for power and not an ethnic conflict, as has

been reported. The citizens displaced by the conflict,

especially in the three states of Jonglei, Unity and

Upper Nile, have sought refuge in the neighbouring

states of Lakes, Warrap, Central Equatoria and Eastern

Equatoria and in neighbouring countries. Those

innocent victims of the conflict urgently need and

deserve humanitarian assistance. We therefore thank

the United Nations, the Government of Norway and

the stakeholders for organizing the donor conference

in Oslo, Norway, in May to support our humanitarian

needs. We also deeply appreciate and welcome the

high-level ministerial meeting on South Sudan that the

United Nations organized on 25 September as a sideline

event of the sixty-ninth session of the Assembly, during

which a number of donors made pledges of support.

My Government is fully committed to providing

humanitarian access and has taken the necessary

measures to facilitate access for humanitarian agencies.

The conflicts within our two countries of South

Sudan and the Sudan tend to be interconnected.

That is why we in the Republic of South Sudan will

exert increased efforts to strengthen relations with

the Republic of the Sudan. Our oil flows through the

territory of the Sudan. In the spirit of cooperation,

my Minister for Foreign Affairs and International

Cooperation will soon commence more joint visits with

his Sudanese counterpart to donor countries to appeal

and lobby for lifting and waiving the Sudan’s foreign

debt, as was agreed in the Cooperation Agreement

between the Republic of the Sudan and the Republic of

South Sudan. There are outstanding issues associated

with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, especially

the final status of Abyei. The Republic of South Sudan

and the Sudan are working through those issues with

the members of the the African Union High-level

Implementation Panel mediation team and our other

partners to find an amicable, peaceful solution with the

Sudan. 1 am committed to addressing those outstanding

issues, and I am in direct communication with President

Omer Al-Bashir of the Sudan to resolve those issues

through dialogue.

Furthermore, my Government and the people of

South Sudan would like to state our appreciation and

thanks to the countries that have expressed support for

the peaceful resolution of the conflict in my country,

especially the United States of America, China, Egypt,

South Africa, the Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia,

Norway, the Congo and Namibia, together with many

others.

My Government is collaborating with the United

Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and other

stakeholders, such as community leaders, political

parties, civil societies and faith-based organizations,

to build trust with the internally displaced persons in

UNMISS camps and to encourage them to return to their

homes and their pre-conflict areas and resume their

normal livelihoods. With respect to our cooperation

with UNMISS, my Government would like to express

its concern regarding the latest mandate of UNMISS,

which has very serious implications for service delivery

to my people. I note in particular that the new mandate

does not allow UNMISS to respond to requests from

national, state and local partners for assistance in

important activities connected with capacity-building,

peacebuilding, disarmament, demobilization and

reintegration, security sector reform, recovery and

development.

Notwithstanding the fact that the activities I have

just mentioned are of paramount importance to South

Sudan, we strongly believe that the main objective of

UNMISS is to support peace and reconciliation first

and foremost. We humbly request the Security Council

to reconsider its decision when the UNMISS mandate

comes up for renewal in November. Also, we would

further urge UNMISS to engage in reorientation

of its activities relating to the mandate of protecting

civilians and to shift from protection-by-presence to

protection-by-action. This is very important because

the presence of troops that do not move does nothing to

save the civilian population. It is vital that they become

active. They must also encourage those in UNMISS

camps to return to their homes. UNMISS needs to

protect the civilians in their neighbourhoods, not in

camps, because ours is a huge country — larger than

France.

The theme of the current session is “Delivering

on and implementing a transformative post-2015

development agenda”. It is no surprise that the Republic

of South Sudan, as a three-year-old country facing

numerous challenges, will not achieve the Millennium

Development Goals. We commend the Secretary-

General and the Working Group for coordinating

the discussions on the 17 sustainable development

goals (SDGs), which will form the post-2015 global

development agenda. It is vital that the SDGs focus

nations’ efforts on reducing poverty; ending hunger

and achieving food security; addressing our health

concerns, especially those issues affecting women

and children; promoting gender equality and the

empowerment of women and girls; addressing the

issues of access, equity and quality of education; and

tackling youth unemployment.

We firmly believe that the attainment of the SDGs

will require strong, sustained partnership, collaboration

and coordination at the international, regional and

national levels, and leadership from the United Nations.

For our part, we will spare no effort and will work in

conjunction with the international community and our

partners in the New Deal, as a fragile State member of

the Group of Seven Plus, to attain the new development

goals.

I wish to take this opportunity to express our

solidarity and support to the victims of Ebola in the

greater West Africa region, particularly in Liberia,

Guinea and Sierra Leone. We acknowledge the leading

role of the United States of America in assisting the

continent to combat the virus. It is vital that the SDGs

address such global health threats.

The Republic of South Sudan strongly condemns

all forms of terrorism, including piracy, which has

become a menace to international peace and security.

Climate change is now recognized as a major global

threat — a threat that could wipe out planet Earth

and the entire human race. I commend the Secretary-

General for convening the recent climate summit to

focus attention on this global problem, and I urge all

the members of the Assembly to heed the call of the

Secretary-General and take bold action. I am pleased

that the SDGs cover environmental issues of concern

to the international community, and I hope the climate

summit to be held in Paris in December 2015 will result

in an agreement on a new global legal framework for

tackling climate change. We must win the race against

the clock to save our planet and humankind before it is

too late. To echo Ms. Graça Machel, tackling climate

change requires leadership, courage and ambition from

all of us. Let us act in solidarity to create the future we

want.

Finally, Sir, I reiterate my resolve to restore peace

to the people of South Sudan, to fully implement the

cooperation agreements with the Republic of the

Sudan, to provide unrestricted support to humanitarian

assistance, to respect human rights and ensure

democratic governance in my country, and to strengthen

working relations with UNMISS and all the members

of the international community without exception. We

will work in unison to establish a safe, secure, peaceful

and prosperous South Sudan.

We are all one in this world — whether strong or

weak, rich or poor. Let us therefore stick together.