Visiting Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has vowed that the UN would do everything possible to help southern Sudan recover from decades of conflict.
The UN chief made the remarks Tuesday in his address at Juba University in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, on the second day of his five-day visit in Sudan, according to a statement issued by the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) on Wednesday.
Describing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 to end the 21-year civil war between north and south parts of Sudan as "the blueprint for long-term peace in the country," Ban Ki-moon said that the peace deal remained "essential and fragile".
"That is why our peacekeeping mission, UNMIS, is working so hard to advance implementation of the agreement. We are monitoring the ceasefire and training police. We are promoting local reconciliation and supporting disarmament and demobilization. We are assisting efforts to strengthen rule of law and the observance of human rights. We are facilitating the return of refugees and displaced persons," the UN chief noted.
Due to these efforts, tens of thousands of refugees and displaced persons have returned to southern Sudan from Khartoum and Sudan's neighboring countries and more will take the same move in the future.
Ban Ki-moon said that many of these people had returned to very difficult conditions for lack of shelter, food, water, health, educational services for their children and opportunities to earn a living.
"We are your allies in the long-term quest for sustainable development. That is why we are supporting projects in infrastructure rehabilitation and health, in water, in education and livestock, in building the capacities of southern institutions, and in addressing the problem of land mines," the UN chief stressed.
The official added that "there is still a long way to go before southern Sudan can fully recover from decades of conflict and insufficient development."
During his 24-hour stay in Juba, Ban Ki-moon hold a meeting with Sudanese First Vice President and the Governor of South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit on the implementation of the CPA and the situation in the conflict-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur.
Early on Tuesday, Ki-moon visited the tomb of Salva Kiir's predecessor, John Garang, who died in an aircraft crash in July 2005.
On Monday, Ban Ki-moon arrived in Khartoum on an official visit in Sudan, which is his first visit in the largest African country since he took office at the beginning of this year.
Source: Xinhua
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