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UN steps in to help Sudan’s transition

Thursday June 04 2020
sud

A mask-clad Sudanese woman holds a national flag along with a poster depicting the face of a slain protester, as demonstrators mark the first anniversary of a raid on an anti-government sit-in, in Riyadh, Khartoum, on June 3, 2020. PHOTO | ASHRAF SHAZLY | AFP

By MAWAHIB ABDALLATIF

The UN Security Council unanimously passed two resolutions, one of which stipulated the formation of a political mission in Khartoum.

Its mission is to support the transitional phase in Sudan, while the second stipulated that the mission of UNAmid in Darfur region be extended until the end of the year.

The decision to form the new political mission, called UNItams, was drafted by Germany and Britain, and the Security Council unanimously adopted it.

The resolution states that the Security Council “decides, once this resolution is adopted, to establish an integrated United Nations mission to assist in the transitional phase in Sudan (UNITAMS) for an initial period of 12 months.”

It requests the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, to quickly appoint an envoy to head this new mission.

This resolution provided for “the extension of the mandate of the United Nations and the African Union UNAmid until December 31, 2020”.

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On Wednesday the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Permanent Mission of Sudan to the United Nations submitted an official request to the President of the UN Security Council to withdraw the letter from the Government of Sudan dated January 27, 2020, from the records of the Council.

Sudan prime minister Abdallah Hamdok asked the UN, in January, to establish a political mission under Chapter VI that would help the transitional authority in Sudan support the peace process in the country.

Since the overthrew of President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, following an unprecedented popular uprising that lasted for months and interspersed with violent repression, Sudan has entered a political transition.

In August 2019, the country has been governed by a mixed military and civilian government for a transitional period of three years.

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