UN Declared South Sudan's Independence After Accord Signed Between Sudan and Darfur Rebels

The United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur welcomed the agreement signed on 14 July 2011, between the Sudanese Government and the rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM). The agreement was based on the Doha Document for Peace of the Security Council of the UN. The General Assembly of the United Nations admitted the Republic of South Sudan as the 193rd member of the United Nations on 14 July 2011. It welcomed independent South Sudan to the community of nations.

The protocol agreement was signed in the Qatari capital, Doha. The agreement was a commitment on the part of the Sudanese Government and the LJM to the draft document that was required to form the basis of a permanent ceasefire and a comprehensive peace agreement to end the fighting that began in 2003. An estimated 300,000 people were killed since conflict erupted in Darfur in 2003.

After the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to acclaim the independence South Sudan became Africa’s newest country. The last country to join the world body was Montenegro, which became the 192nd UN Member State on June 28 2006 after it gained its independence from Serbia.

South Sudan celebrated its independence ceremony in South Sudan’s capital, Juba on 16 July 2011. President, Salva Kiir of the Republic of South Sudan presented a copy of the interim constitution of the new nation after UN’s declaration of South Sudan’s independence.

The January 2011 referendum held under the terms of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the decades-long civil war between the North and the South Sudan resulted South Sudan’s independence from the rest of Sudan. Mr. Gambari who was the acting Joint Chief Mediator took the initiative to urged the other armed movements of Darfur to sign up to the draft document.

Resolutions and recommendations:

•    The Republic of South Sudan accepted the obligations contained in the Charter of the United Nations and solemnly undertook to fulfill them.
•    Any recommendations for admission must receive the affirmative votes of nine of the Council’s 15 members, provided that none of its five permanent members i.e. China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States voted against the application.
•    The Un Security Council decided on 11 July 2011, to close the six-year-old UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), which was set up to assist the parties in implementing the CPA, and called on the Secretary-General of the UN to complete the withdrawal of all its uniformed and civilian personnel, except those needed for its liquidation, by 31 August 2011.
•    In an unanimously adopted resolution, the Council emphasized the need for an orderly withdrawal of UNMIS following the termination of its mandate to pave the way for the new UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS).
•    The Council also looked forward to transfer appropriate staff and supplies, including the logistics necessary for achieving the new scope of functions to be performed from UNMIS to the new Mission and to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

The new UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) was set up in July 2011 to help the new nation consolidate peace and lay the foundation for longer-term state-building, conflict prevention and economic development. This mission was comprised up to 7,000 military personnel and up to 900 civilian police personnel as well as a civilian component, takes over from the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), which was created following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

The agreement signed between the north and the south Sudan in June 2010, held that their respective forces which clashed repeatedly in the disputed region are to withdraw from Abyei. UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) was given the initial task of monitoring the complete withdrawal of forces from all of Abyei.