Deputy Secretary-General's remarks at press event following High-Level on South Sudan

DSG: Good Afternoon.

We have just concluded a meeting on the situation in South Sudan. You, of course, know that there has been a long and very painful conflict, which has led to huge human suffering in South Sudan. After long mediation work by primarily the regional organization, IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development), and also with efforts from the African Union and the UN and interested other Member States, there was finally an agreement in August.

This agreement is now to be implemented and it is a difficult road ahead. The realities on the ground are to some degree positive, but also very negative, because the ceasefire is not holding completely -- and we are worried, of course, about continued fighting.

We are also worried about lacking access to the whole country.  We need very much to reach all areas. The humanitarian situation is extremely dire. And there are also serious human rights violations going on, which we have to be monitoring developments.

The basic issue is, I would say, trust; there has to be trust between the signatories, between the Government and Dr. Riek Machar’s SPLM (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement) in Opposition and the former detainees who were represented by Pagan Amum at this meeting. There is need for trust between the three, and there is need also, that the outside world is conceived as not imposing settlements, but rather helping settlements become realities on the ground.

I must say, and I said in my conclusions in the meeting, that I was encouraged to see in this room the three representatives of the Government, the opposition and the former detainees sitting beside each other in the room. At the beginning of the meeting we had President Salva Kiir on video.  He presented his case first. But at the meeting we had all three signatories, and in the room were also the international community, all the actors who are trying to help South Sudan to now come to its feet and have a better future. 

So the main thing, I think, is now to have full respect of the ceasefire and to have security arrangements that are satisfactory to both sides. These are the two outstanding issues.  We had continued discussions in Addis Ababa about this, a week ago or so, and for the time being, the Government has signed on to those minutes of that meeting, while Dr. Riek Machar still has some reservations.

So it is a situation where we have an agreement but then we have to move to implementation.  That is always the number two stage, which often comes to the situation that the devil is in the details. But the meeting gave a very strong indication that the international community expects this agreement to be respected and implemented.

The horror has been going on for far too long and we understand now that the people of South Sudan support this agreement fully. This is a strength in itself -- that the people of South Sudan themselves want the parties to come to an agreement. And then, fourth, and I will conclude by this, they will then form a Government of National Unity. That is what is now stipulated in the agreement, and we hope very much that will be the case.

I am somewhat encouraged by the developments and by the meeting, and now we have to make sure that we continue this positive momentum. So thank you very much for your attention.

Q: When you talk about the trust deficit that goes the heart of the relationship between President Kiir and the rebel leader, Riek Machar, can you characterize from your perspective, what that relationship is like? And in addition that: the continued presence of Ugandan troops in support of the Kiir faction and what do you make of the Ugandan presence there?

DSG: Well, I cannot speak in depth about the degree of trust, or lack of trust, between the two. Of course you understand that this has been a very strained period in that relationship, because the sacrifices have been so strong.

I am glad that during this meeting nobody mentioned the ethnic issues.  The words Nuer and Dinka were not mentioned at that meeting, so it is hopefully a political issue -- a political issue on what direction the country will take.

I would hope that they have come to the point where the sacrifices have been so huge that they simply have to make compromises. To them both, they have been painful, they both said so, it was painful compromises. But I think this is a sign that they realize that they have to make this agreement. And then I was just appealing to them that this trust-building has to now go on. And that is best done by implementing the agreement.

The withdrawal of foreign troops is part of the agreement and we hope and know that that will at some stage come. It is an issue which is still not completely solved. But it is part of the implementation. I would say that the most important thing is to live up to the agreement and not get into situations where we are renegotiating the agreement. There are still reservations from both sides, but they can be solved on the basis of the present agreement if there is political will.

And political will builds, as in my own experiences from mediation, it builds on trust. And they simply have to build higher trust. I think they should be also encouraged to go in that direction if they know that the great majority of the people of South Sudan want nothing more than peace and normalizing life. This country could in fact be a very well-functioning and well-to-do country.  They have resources, they have food.  If they were to be living in peace, they would have oil, they can sell oil.  They could be quite a strong nation. We have all felt for a long time a huge disappointment, frustration, sadness to have seen this country which received its independence so recently, that they have been going through this nightmarish situation.  Thank you very much.

Q: What is the pressure that the UN can impose on both leaders and other parties to respect the agreement?

DSG: Well, of course there is also the aspect that this issue of South Sudan is on the agenda of the Security Council and it is also on the agenda of the African Union Peace and Security Council. And of course there are voices inside the Council, both in Addis and in New York, who are raising the possibility of introducing other measures, in case we don’t see the implementation of the agreement. But that prospect was not mentioned at this meeting.  We are at the state where we hope that we go in the direction of the implementation, so that we don’t need to go to that stage.

I also say that we are not here to impose settlements. We are here to encourage them to live up to the agreements they signed onto. If there is such a situation that they don’t live up to this, then I am sure that this issue will get the attention both of the Security Council in New York and at the AU Peace and Security Council in Addis.