UNIMIS

UNIMIS

On 24 March 2005, the Security Council by its resolution 1590 (2005) established the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS).

«Since 2005, UNMIS supported the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.»

The latest north-south civil war began in 1983, following the breakdown of the 1972 Addis Ababa agreement. For more than two decades, the Government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), the main rebel movement in the south, fought over resources, power, the role of religion in the state, and self-determination. Over two million people died, four million were uprooted and some 600,000 people fled the country as refugees.
Over the years, there were many attempts by neighboring States, concerned donors, other States and the parties themselves to bring peace. One such effort, begun in 1993, was a regional peace initiative under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The United Nations closely followed and supported the IGAD initiative over the years.
To follow developments in the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa, the Secretary-General, in December 1997, appointed Mohamed Sahnoun as his Special Adviser on Africa.

Comprehensive Peace Agreement

On 9 January 2005, in an event that marked a turning point in the history of the Sudan, the Government of the Sudan and SPLM/A signed in Nairobi, Kenya, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The CPA included agreements on outstanding issues remaining after the Machakos Protocol and had provisions on security arrangements, power-sharing in the capital of Khartoum, some autonomy for the south, and more equitable distribution of economic resources, including oil.

While the parties established the unity of the Sudan as a priority under the agreement, they decided to set up a six-and-a-half-year interim period during which interim institutions would govern the country and international monitoring mechanisms would be established and operationalized. 

UNMIS’s MANDATES

1.To support implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by the government of SUDAN and the Sudanese People Liberation Army/Movement on 09/01/2003 by performing the following tasks:

Ø      To monitor and verify the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement and to investigate violations;

Ø      To liaise with bilateral donors on the formation of Joint Integrated Units;

Ø      To observe and monitor movement of armed groups and redeployment of forces in the areas of UNMIS deployment in accordance with the Ceasefire Agreement;

Ø      To assist in the establishment of the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration program as called for in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, with particular attention to the special needs of women and child combatants, and its implementation through voluntary disarmament and weapons collection and destruction;

Ø      To assist the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in promoting understanding of the peace process and the role of UNMIS by means of an effective public information campaign, targeted at all sectors of society, in coordination with the African Union;

Ø      To assist the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in addressing the need for a national inclusive approach, including the role of women, towards reconciliation and peace-building;

Ø      To assist the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, in coordination with bilateral and multilateral assistance programs, in restructuring the police service in Sudan, consistent with democratic policing, to develop a police training and evaluation program, and to otherwise assist in the training of police;

Ø      To assist the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in promoting the rule of law, including an independent judiciary, and the protection of human rights of all people of Sudan through a comprehensive and coordinated strategy with the aim of combating impunity and contributing to long-term peace and stability and to assist the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to develop and consolidate the national legal framework;

Ø      To ensure an adequate human rights presence, capacity, and expertise within UNMIS to carry out human rights promotion, protection, and monitoring activities;

Ø      To provide guidance and technical assistance to the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, in cooperation with other international actors, to support the preparations for and conduct of elections and referenda provided for by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement;

2.To facilitate and coordinate, within its capabilities and in its areas of deployment, the voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons, and humanitarian assistance, inter  by helping to establish the necessary security conditions;

3.To assist the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, in cooperation with other international partners in the mine action sector, by providing humanitarian demining assistance, technical advice, and coordination;

4.To contribute towards international efforts to protect and promote human rights in Sudan , as well as to co-ordinate international efforts towards the protection of civilians , with particular attention to vulnerable groups including internally displaced persons, returning refugees, and women and children, within UNMIS's capabilities and in close cooperation with other United Nations agencies, related organizations, and non-governmental organizations.

5.Provide good offices and political support to the parties

6.Monitor and verify security arrangement and offer assistance in number of areas including the government recovery and development

Acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Security Council also:

1. Decided that UNMIS is authorized to take the necessary action, in the areas of deployment of its forces and as it deems within its capabilities, to protect UN personnel, facilities, installations, and equipment, ensure the security and freedom of movement of United Nations personnel, humanitarian workers, joint assessment mechanism and assessment and evaluation commission personnel, and, without prejudice to the responsibility of the Government of the Sudan, to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence; and
2. Requested that the Secretary-General and the Government of the Sudan, following appropriate consultation with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, conclude a status-of-forces agreement within 30 days of adoption of the resolution, taking into consideration General Assembly resolution 58/82 on the scope of legal protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, and notes that pending the conclusion of such an agreement, the Model status-of-forces agreement dated 9 October 1990 [A/45/594], shall apply provisionally.

THE INDEPENDENCE OF SOUTH SUDAN

(9^th JULY 201I)

This marked the end of UNMIS’s mandates