The UN Secretary-General on Thursday recognized the “remarkable achievements and resilience of the Sudanese people, and its transitional government” since the overthrow of Omar Al-Bashir in 2019, as they “chart a caller aboriginal together.”
António Guterres was delivering the opening remarks at a virtual High-Level Event connected Sudan, which helium co-hosted with Norway, on the margins of the 76th league of the UN General Assembly.
“We are besides present to item the value of the planetary assemblage investing successful these captious efforts done factual enactment and transportation of pledges,” helium added.
Transition and progress
In the past 2 years, since the former president was overthrown by the Sudanese service after months of popular protests and demonstrations against his rule, the country has been going done a transition process.
Mr. Guterres recalled that, in precocious 2019, world leaders gathered to observe the adoption of the country’s “historic” Constitutional Document and to explicit solidarity for the new Transitional Government, led by Prime Minister Hamdok.
Since then, Sudan has reached important milestones.
Despite immoderate challenges, the Secretary-General assured that antiauthoritarian governance and peacemaking efforts person advanced.
For Mr. Guterres, the Juba Peace Agreement, signed astir a twelvemonth ago, “paves the mode for ending Sudan’s long-standing and devastating conflicts.” He said that “important enactment is underway to instrumentality the Agreement and to scope a woody with non-signatory equipped movements.”
Sudan has besides undertaken ambitious economical reforms, culminating successful the Decision Point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative.
The Secretary-General believes “this volition let a measurement of alleviation from Sudan’s unsustainable indebtedness load and escaped up much-needed resources from the International Financial Institutions.”
International support
For Mr. Guterres, the planetary community “must bash everything imaginable to assistance beforehand these and different efforts.”
Last June, the UN Security Council mandated the Integrated Transition Assistance Mission successful Sudan (UNITAMS), to supply enactment for the transition.
Looking ahead, he said that institutions specified arsenic the Transitional Legislative Council, will beryllium crucial. The drafting of a constitution towards full elections, should output “significant opportunities for further progress”, helium added.
He besides argued that women’s inclusion and meaningful participation “will payment the aboriginal of each Sudanese.”
Challenges
Sudan continues to face analyzable information challenges however, and the Secretary-General condemned, once again, the attempted coup of 21 September, which failed, saying it “is a reminder of persistent threats.”
“It underscores the value of undertaking each efforts to support civilians, fortify quality rights, and supply information and information for all,” helium added.
On the humanitarian front, he noted improved entree successful immoderate areas, but said more than 13 cardinal people still need assistance.
Lastly, successful an appeal to the planetary community, helium said that the transitional Government and its partners can “help recognize the imaginativeness of millions of Sudanese men and women, and astir particularly Sudanese youth, who risked their lives for ideology and peace.”
“We person an work to enactment these efforts,” he concluded.
Democratic challenge
The Prime Minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok, also spoke astatine the event, highlighting respective difficulties, including the system and public debt.
“Today, we cod little than 6 per cent of the GDP successful taxes. You volition hold with me, you cannot tally a decent authorities with that level of taxation,” helium explained, adding that the state besides owes more than $60 billion.
Stressing the value of being “inclusive of everybody”, helium pointed to “the challenges of laying retired the instauration of the modulation to democracy, which requires holding the Constitutional Conference and organizing the elections.”
“We request to enactment connected managing our people’s expectations. The Sudanese radical have, and rightly so, precise precocious expectations astir the transition, astir the change. But this is the bequest of 30 years, you can’t undo it overnight,” helium concluded.
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