South Sudan envoy to UN Cecilia Adeng. (Photo: UN).

South Sudan’s envoy to the United Nations has voiced support for strategic review of the mandate of UN Interim Security Forces for Abyei (UNISFA) set to expire on November 14 to ensure that it aligns with security realities in the disputed region.

Amb. Cecilia Adeng made the remarks during a UN Security Council meeting in New York on November 5, where members urged greater support to UNISFA in fulfilling its mandate.

She underscored that UNISFA and the UN’s Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JBVMM) have been instrumental in conducting verification activities, easing tension, and facilitating conditions for constructive dialogue since 2011.

The envoy confirmed the deployment of South Sudan security personnel in Abyei in what she regarded as a temporary measure in reducing tension in the region.

“South Sudan supports the strategic review of the UNISFA mandate so that it aligns with the current protocols and security realities in Abyei,” she told the Council.

“We are confident that a collaborated mandate, developed in consultation with all relevant parties, would enhance the mission’s effectiveness in the days ahead.”

Ms. Adeng said her country is committed to collaborating with the UN and neighboring Sudan to support the mandates of UNIFAS and JBVMM, recognizing that the UN presence in Abyei contributes to reducing inter-communal tensions and safeguarding peace.

She pointed out that the Abyei box is facing multiple crises, including floods, food insecurity, and the influx of refugees and returnees from war-torn Sudan, which have impacted the mission’s efforts.

Meanwhile, a senior UN official said the war in Sudan and political uncertainty in South Sudan have stalled progress in political dialogue on the final status of Abyei and border issues.

“The war in the Sudan continues to have a profound impact on the security, economic, and humanitarian situations in both Sudan and South Sudan, including in the Abyei box,” said Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations.

She noted a continued proliferation of small arms and heavy weaponry in Abyei, with South Sudanese officials reporting a 21 October incursion of a group of Rapid Support Forces combatants, who looted Aman-Aguak and Mijak counties.

Ms. Pobee said the movement of armed groups is worsening the fragile security situation in South Sudan and Abyei, particularly with respect to pre-existing tensions between the Twic Mayardit and Ngok Dinka communities.

She added that climate change-related challenges, including recent heavy rains and flooding, have displaced more than 18,000 people in Abyei alone, as well as impacted crops and infrastructure and disrupted health and education services.

Ms. Pobee added that the mission continues to monitor the situation for conditions that might be conducive to renewed talks and offers support for the resumption of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism, which last met in January 2023.

In the meantime, she said UNISFA is focusing on the “critical task” of supporting stability on the ground in Abyei and promoting and deepening reconciliation between the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities.

Abyei is the traditional homeland of the Ngok Dinka, but herders linked to the northern nomadic Arab tribe of Misseriya seasonally traverse Abyei and other North-South border areas with their cattle in search of water and pasture in the dry season and to trade goods.

In 1972, at the end of Sudan’s first civil war, the Addis Ababa Agreement promised residents of Abyei the right to hold a referendum to determine whether they would remain a part of northern Sudan or join the newly formed southern region.

However in 1983, Sudan descended into another civil war after President Jaafar Nimeiri refused to implement the agreement and allow Abyei to hold its referendum.

The war ended after signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, which included the Abyei Protocol stipulating that the region would remain under special administrative status until a final status referendum was conducted.

The proposed referendum, scheduled to occur simultaneously with the southern Sudan referendum in January 2011, would allow residents to determine whether Abyei would become part of Sudan or South Sudan, but it never happened.