What's In Blue

Posted Tue 26 Apr 2011

Insights on Sudan

Tomorrow (Wednesday, 27 April) the Council is likely to adopt a “technical rollover” resolution extending the UN Mission in Sudan. The current mandate of UNMIS expires on 30 April. The draft resolution would renew it until 9 July at current force levels. The draft text also includes language on the Council’s intention to authorise a successor UN mission to work in South Sudan following its independence.

The draft resolution was authored by the US. It has only just been circulated to the wider Council membership. It seems that the draft was shared with P5 members last week and also with Sudan. However most members appear to have only received the text today, one day ahead of its possible adoption.

This follows the late circulation of a draft presidential statement which was meant to be adopted following the briefings on Sudan and Darfur last Wednesday, 20 April. Council members only received the text of the presidential statement from the US last Monday, 18 April, and no meetings were scheduled to discuss the draft. The presidential statement was eventually adopted on Thursday, 21 April, one day later than expected, following discussions at the deputy permanent representative level on Wednesday, 20 April.

It appears that the late circulation of the UNMIS draft resolution is unlikely to delay its adoption given that it is a relatively straightforward technical rollover. However, elected Council members are becoming increasingly concerned about the persistent exclusion of elected members until the last minute from discussions. Some feel that this will become an issue, particularly as the Council gears up for the negotiations on a new mission in South Sudan.

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