Statement by Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations Samuel Žbogar at UNSC meeting on the Reports of the Secretary-General on the Sudan and South Sudan

Thank you Madam President.

I thank both Assistant Secretary-General Ms. Pobee, as well as Ms. Lewis for their briefings. I also thank Ambassador Joon-Kook Hwang for his update on the work of the 1591 Committee.

Colleagues,

The two briefings we heard this morning were really very disturbing. With each briefing, the facts presented grow even more alarming.

What makes this suffering intolerable is the fact that it is not inevitable. It is not the result of a natural disaster or an unforeseen emergency. This scale of human devastation is man-made, a product of choices: to wage war instead of seeking peace; to obstruct aid rather than enable it; to kill civilians rather than protect them; to target humanitarian workers rather than let them work.

Let me make three points:

First, this conflict is man-made and so must be the solution. For over two years, credible initiatives and appeals for a peaceful, diplomatic resolution have been dismissed or sidelined, while the violence escalated in scale, in the sophistication of weapons, and in the brutality of its execution.

No path to peace is without challenges, but refusing to even attempt one is a choice, and it comes at the cost of Sudanese lives. We renew our calls to RSF and SAF to silence the guns and to uphold commitments to protect civilians. To external actors to refrain from actions that fuel the conflict; to states to strictly respect and enforce the arms embargo; to all parties to ensure and facilitate full, safe, sustained, and unhindered humanitarian access.

We support the work of the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy Lamamra and other international partners working towards one goal: sustainable peace and long-term stability for Sudan’s unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Second, protecting humanitarian space is not a matter of choice. It is an obligation and a moral imperative. A line that should never be crossed with impunity.

We strongly condemn all attacks on humanitarian and medical workers including the latest reported attacks on the WFP and UNICEF convoy in North Darfur and the hospital in West Kordofan. We call on parties to agree to humanitarian pauses and safe corridors that guarantee unimpeded access for relief workers.

And this brings me to my last point – impunity is not accidental. It is the result of inaction – of red lines drawn and then quietly erased.

Mass displacement, weaponization of sexual violance, starvation, summary executions, mass graves, attacks on humanitarian and medical workers require our firm and absolute condemnation and demand for accountability. There must never come a time when erosion of outrage translates into normalizing the unacceptable.

Those who perpetrate atrocities in Sudan do so in the belief that they will not be held to account – this presumption must be challenged. Without justice, there is be no lasting peace. History has proven that.

Madam President, in conclusion,

Years from now, when the full extent of this war is documented and understood, when survivors tell their stories and history renders its judgment – what will be said of this moment?

We cannot plead ignorance. We have received the warnings. We have seen the images. And we have heard a plea from Assistant Secretary-General Pobee as well as from CSO briefer Ms. Lewis for the Council to lead the way to resolving conflict in Sudan. I agree with my French and Danish colleague that the Security Council must act more decisively to stop the suffering of the Sudanese people.

I thank you.

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