November 07, 2024
(The following is a joint statement delivered by Ambassador James Kariuki, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, on behalf of Ecuador, France, Guyana, Japan, Malta, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.)
We, the Security Council signatories of the Shared Commitments on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) – Ecuador, France, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Republic of Korea, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom – take this opportunity to showcase our commitment to advancing women’s full, equal, meaningful and safe participation and leadership in South Sudan’s peace process and improving the situation for women and girls on the ground.
We note the announcement by the Transitional Government of South Sudan to extend the government’s transitional status by a further two years. South Sudan’s leaders should urgently come forward with a credible timetable of election preparations, allocate the resources for electoral institutions, and foster the political and civic space necessary to create the conditions for free and fair, peaceful, and inclusive elections in 2026.
Women play a key role in promoting peace and stability in South Sudan and must be given more space to fully, equally, meaningfully and safely participate in politics at all levels across all regions. This includes the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women in all elections processes, including as voters, candidates, and electoral observers. We welcome the commitment made by the Government of South Sudan for a 35% affirmative action quota for women in all transitional governmental institutions in the 2018 Revitalized Agreement (R-ARCSS) and urge them to take the necessary steps to meet this quota, with the UN’s continued support. We further recognise the critical role of civil society organisations, particularly women-led groups, in advancing the WPS agenda in South Sudan and encourage their continued meaningful participation in peace processes, governance reforms, and accountability efforts.
Women and girls in South Sudan, including from refugee and internally displaced communities, suffer among the highest levels of sexual and gender-based violence globally. Sub-national conflict continues to exacerbate this. We welcome the three-year renewal of the Joint Action Plan for the Armed Forces on addressing conflict-related sexual violence, after expiring on 31 December 2023. However, it is important to make swifter progress, and so we urge the South Sudanese authorities to speed up the implementation of the Joint Action Plan, and to prioritise the training, sensitisation, accountability and oversight of the defense and security forces with further technical support by the UN and international partners.
We note that the Government of South Sudan has yet to fulfil its commitments under the Revitalized Agreement to establish credible mechanisms to investigate and ensure accountability for atrocities, including those involving conflict-related sexual violence. We call on the Government of South Sudan to implement existing national and international commitments that seek to protect human rights and tackle sexual and gender-based violence. We also reiterate our calls to the Government of South Sudan to hold perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence to account, end impunity, and take additional measures to protect civilians. We further call on the international community to provide direct support to women’s organisations delivering aid and support for women and girls in South Sudan.