UNITAMS is born
The Security Council, in a 4 June videoconference meeting, decided to establish a United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), unanimously adopting resolution 2524 (2020) for an initial 12-month period to assist the country’s shift to democratic governance, and support the protection and promotion of human rights and sustainable peace.
UNITAMS will also support peace processes and the implementation of future peace agreements; assist peacebuilding, civil protection and the rule of law, particularly in Darfur and the Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile areas.
In addition, the Council tasked the new mission with supporting the mobilisation of economic and development assistance and coordination of humanitarian aid.
At the same time, the Council, recognizing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the planned drawdown of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) drawdown, agreed to tack on an extra two months onto its mandate, maintaining the number of troops and police assigned to the mission unchanged.
‘Preserve and consolidate’
Briefing the Council on 24 April, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said that UNITAM’s follow-on presence would aim to “preserve and consolidate the gains made over the years” and “build on the peacebuilding work” already done by UNAMID and the UN Country Team.
At the same briefing, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo warned that Sudan’s economic challenges could worsen if COVID-19 spread more widely.
With 9.3 million people requiring humanitarian assistance, she said that the need to support Sudan is both real and urgent.