MADRID, 21 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The United Nations special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Hanna Tetteh, has concluded her three-day trip to Uganda after the signing of a “lasting” peace agreement in the Abyei area, in dispute between Sudan and South Sudan and epicenter of bilateral tensions since the independence of this second country in 2011.
As indicated at a press conference by Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, both the leader of the Dinka community, Bulabek Deng Kuol, and the representative of the Misseriya Arab delegation, El Sadig Hireka Izzral Din, have signed said commitment.
“The peace process does not depend only on us, given the deep-seated political differences that have existed so far. The conflict will only be resolved if there is political will at the national level and willingness to compromise at the community level. It will not be an easy road, but can be done,” Tetteh said this week.
In a statement from the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), the leaders pledged to advocate for inter-community dialogue to promote the protection of women and children, as well as livestock and property.
At the meeting, facilitated by the Government of Uganda, chaired by Yowei Museveni, were representatives of United Nations agencies, funds and programs, as well as international non-governmental organizations.
“UNISFA will continue to guarantee peace in Abyei while protecting the communities. We will continue to engage the governments of Sudan and South Sudan on the issues raised at this meeting,” said UNISFA Acting Head Major General Benjamin Olufemi Sawyerr.
For their part, the community representatives called on UNISFA to “fully” comply with its mandate and “protect civilians”, emphasizing that peace in Abyei is “essential” and should have been achieved “a long time ago”.
Abyei has been the scene of inter-communal clashes between the Misseriya Arab community and the Dinka community, including a massacre in the city of Kolom in 2020 in which more than 30 people were killed in a Misseriya attack in retaliation for a murder.
Given the situation, the authorities of Sudan and South Sudan signed a protocol in February 2020 for the deployment of security posts in the Abyei region with the aim of containing possible clashes, although the clashes have continued to take place sporadically .
Abyei’s status was suspended when South Sudan declared its independence in 2011 and remains one of the main sources of conflict between the two countries due to its geostrategic importance and its energy reserves.
The region is under the administration of UNISFA. In principle, the future of the region should have been clarified according to a referendum stipulated in the historic peace agreements of 2005, which led to the independence of South Sudan, although the Dinka have made the plebiscite impossible by unreservedly rejecting the participation of the miseriya nomads in consultation.
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