Security Council Resolution 2223 (2015) [on Extension of the Mandate of the Un Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss) Until 30 Nov. 2015]

S/RES/2223 (2015)View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Security Council, under agenda item 216 Reports of the Secretary-General on the Sudan and South Sudan, published in 2015.

What other versions does this mandate have?

2 versions · 2014–2015

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2015	S/RES/2223 (2015)	Security Council resolution 2223 (2015) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until 30 Nov. 2015]	—	—
2014	S/RES/2155 (2014)	Security Council resolution 2155 (2014) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) until 30 Nov. 2014]	—	–

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

4 reports · 2014–2015

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2015	S/2015/655	Report of the Secretary-General on South Sudan (covering the period from 14 April to 19 August 2015)	S/RES/2223 (2015)
2014	S/2014/821	Report of the Secretary-General on South Sudan	S/RES/2155 (2014)
2014	S/2014/708	Report of the Secretary-General on South Sudan	S/RES/2155 (2014)
2014	S/2014/537	Report of the Secretary-General on South Sudan	S/RES/2155 (2014)

What subjects does this mandate have?

11 subjects

Civilian Persons Coordination Within UN System Human Rights in Armed Conflicts Human Rights Monitoring Humanitarian Assistance Internal Security Military Personnel Peace Agreements Peacekeeping Operations Police South Sudan

What’s in this document?

47 operative paragraphs

Reiterates its endorsement of the CoH Agreement accepted and signed by the Government of South Sudan and the SPLM/A (in Opposition) on 23 January 2014, further reiterates its endorsement of the Agreement to Resolve the Crisis in South Sudan signed on 9 May 2014 by Government of South Sudan and the SPLM/A (in Opposition); endorses the 9 November 2014 Rededication and Implementation Modalities for the CoH; calls for immediate and full implementation of the agreements by both parties, and expresses its intention to consider all appropriate measures, as demonstrated by its 3 March 2015 unanimous adoption of resolution 2206 (2015), against those who take action that undermines the peace, stability, and security of South Sudan, including those who prevent the implementation of these agreements;

Urges all parties to engage in an open and fully inclusive national dialogue seeking to establish lasting peace, reconciliation and good governance, including through the full and effective participation of youth, women, diverse communities, faith groups, civil society, and the formerly detained SPLM leaders, encourages the efforts of IGAD and the United Nations to reach a peace agreement between the parties, and further urges them to ensure that child protection provisions are integrated into all peace negotiations and peace agreements;

Decides to extend the mandate of UNMISS until 30 November 2015;

Decides that the mandate of UNMISS shall be as follows, and authorizes UNMISS to use all necessary means to perform the following tasks:

Protection of civilians:

To protect civilians under threat of physical violence, irrespective of the source of such violence, within its capacity and areas of deployment, with specific protection for women and children, including through the continued use of the Mission’s Child Protection and Women Protection Advisers;

To deter violence against civilians, including foreign nationals, especially through proactive deployment, active patrolling with particular attention to displaced civilians, including, but not limited to, those in protection sites and refugee camps, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders, and identification of threats and attacks against the civilian population, including through regular interaction with the civilian population and closely with humanitarian, human rights and development organizations, in areas at high risk of conflict including, as appropriate, schools, places of worship, hospitals, and the oil installations, in particular when the Government of the Republic of South Sudan is unable or failing to provide such security;

iii

To implement a mission-wide early warning strategy, including a coordinated approach to information gathering, monitoring, verification, early warning and dissemination, and response mechanisms, including response mechanisms to prepare for further potential attacks on United Nations personnel and facilities;

To maintain public safety and security of and within UNMISS protection of civilians sites;

To exercise good offices, confidence-building, and facilitation in support of the mission’s protection strategy, especially in regard to women and children, including to facilitate the prevention, mitigation and resolution of inter-communal conflict in order to foster sustainable local and national reconciliation as an essential part of preventing violence and long-term State-building activity;

To foster a secure environment for the eventual safe and voluntary return of internally-displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees including, through monitoring of, ensuring respect for human rights by, and where compatible and in strict compliance with the United Nations Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDPP), coordination with police services and civil society actors in relevant and protection-focused activities, such as sensitization to issues of sexual and gender-based violence, in order to strengthen protection of civilians;

Monitoring and investigating human rights:

To monitor, investigate, verify, and report publicly and regularly on abuses and violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including those that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity;

To monitor, investigate, verify and report specifically and publicly on violations and abuses committed against children and women, including all forms of sexual and gender-based violence in armed conflict by accelerating the implementation of monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements on conflict-related sexual violence and by strengthening the monitoring and reporting mechanism for grave violations against children;

iii

To coordinate with, and offer technical support to, where appropriate, the African Union’s Commission of Inquiry for South Sudan;

Creating the conditions conducive to the delivery of humanitarian assistance:

To contribute, in close coordination with humanitarian actors, to the creation of security conditions conducive to the delivery of humanitarian assistance, confidence building and facilitation, so as to allow, in accordance with relevant provisions of international law and United Nations guiding principles of humanitarian assistance, the rapid, safe and unhindered access of relief personnel to all those in need in South Sudan and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance, in particular to internally displaced persons and refugees;

To ensure the security and freedom of movement of United Nations and associated personnel where appropriate, and to ensure the security of installations and equipment necessary for implementation of mandated tasks;

Supporting the Implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement:

To ensure proper coordination with the Joint Technical Committee (JTC), MVM, and Monitoring and Verification Teams (MVTs), as appropriate;

To provide mobile and dedicated fixed site security to IGAD’s MVM, as established in line with the decisions of the 31 January 2014 and 13 March 2014 meetings of the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government; and

iii

To provide support to the work of the MVM as described within the CoH;

Emphasizes that protection of civilians, as described in paragraph 4 (a), must be given priority in decisions about the use of available capacity and resources within the Mission;

Requests the Secretary-General, through his Special Representative, to continue to direct the operations of an integrated UNMISS, coordinate all activities of the United Nations system in the Republic of South Sudan, and support a coherent international approach to achieving peace in the Republic of South Sudan, and expresses support for the use of United Nations good offices to engage with the parties and other stakeholders;

Endorses the recommendation made by the Secretary-General in his 29 April 2015 Report to maintain the overall force levels of UNMISS to support its mandate as defined in paragraph 4 of this resolution;

Decides that UNMISS will consist of a military component of up to 12,500 troops of all ranks and of a police component, including appropriate Formed Police Units, of up to 1,323 personnel; and that the civilian component will continue to be reduced according to tasks outlined in paragraph 4; requests that the Secretary-General provide detailed information on force generation, restructuring of the UNMISS force, logistical support and enablers, including as part of his regular reports; and requests the Secretary-General to review needs on the ground, and provide an updated assessment of the force’s operations, deployment and future requirements in his regular reports to the Council;

Requests UNMISS to continue to focus and streamline its activities, across its military, police and civilian components in order to achieve progress on the tasks outlined in paragraph 4, and recognizes that certain Mission tasks will therefore be ceased;

Expresses its intention to keep the requirements of and composition of UNMISS components under active review, and to review this mandate and make any necessary adjustments, at an appropriate stage in the implementation of a credible peace agreement between the parties;

Authorizes the Secretary-General to take the necessary steps, in accordance with paragraph 8, to continue to expedite force and asset generation;

Requests UNMISS to further intensify its presence and active patrolling in areas of high-risk of conflict, high concentrations of IDPs, including as guided by its early warning strategy, in both government and opposition-held areas, and key routes for population movement, and to conduct regular reviews of its geographic deployment to ensure that its forces are best placed to protect civilians, and requests the Secretary-General to provide update the Security Council on how the Mission is working toward meeting its protection of civilian obligations, including, but not limited to new patrol areas and proactive deployment, on the measures to be taken to transform the mission to become more efficient and effective in implementing its mandate in his next report in August 2015 as well as further updates on these reviews as part of his regular reports;

Further requests that UNMISS continue to ensure full compliance with the United Nations zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to keep the Council fully informed about the Mission’s progress in this regard, and urges Troop- and Police-Contributing Countries to take appropriate preventive action including pre-deployment awareness training, and to ensure full accountability in cases of such conduct involving their personnel;

Encourages UNMISS to fully implement the HRDDP and requests the Secretary-General to include progress made in implementing the policy in his reports to the Council;

Requests UNMISS, within existing resources, to assist the Committee established pursuant to paragraph 16 of resolution 2206 (2015) and the Panel of Experts established by the same resolution; further urges all parties and Member States, as well as international, regional and subregional organizations to ensure cooperation with the Panel of Experts and further urges all Member States involved to ensure the safety of the members of the Panel of Experts and unhindered access, in particular to persons, documents and sites in order for the Panel of Experts to execute its mandate;

Condemns in the strongest terms attacks on and threats made to UNMISS personnel and United Nations facilities, as well as those of IGAD, such as the August 2014 shooting down of a United Nations helicopter by unidentified armed groups, the August 2014 arrest and detention of an IGAD monitoring and verification team, the detentions and kidnappings of United Nations and associated personnel, and the repeated attacks on the UNMISS camps in Bor, Bentiu, Malakal and Melut, stresses that such attacks may constitute violations of the Status of Forces Agreement and/or war crimes, demands that all parties respect the inviolability of United Nations premises and immediately desist and refrain from any violence against those gathered at United Nations facilities, and further demands the immediate and safe release of detained and kidnapped United Nations and associated personnel;

Recalls the designation criteria detailed in paragraph 7 of resolution 2206 (2015), stresses the sanctity of United Nations protection sites, and specifically underscores that individuals or entities that are responsible or complicit in, or have engaged in, directly or indirectly, attacks against United Nations missions, international security presences, or other peacekeeping operations, or humanitarian personnel, threaten the peace, security and stability of South Sudan and therefore may meet the designation criteria;

Reiterates its request that UNMISS take additional measures, as appropriate, to ensure the security of its air operations in South Sudan and report thereon to the Council;

Demands that the Government of the Republic of South Sudan and all relevant parties cooperate fully in the deployment, operations, and monitoring, verification, and reporting functions of UNMISS, in particular by guaranteeing the safety, security, and unrestricted freedom of movement of United Nations and associated personnel, throughout the territory of the Republic of South Sudan, and further calls upon the Government of South Sudan to ensure freedom of movement for IDPs, including those leaving and entering protection of civilian sites, and to continue to support UNMISS by the allocation of land for protection of civilian sites;

Demands that all parties allow, in accordance with relevant provisions of international law and United Nations guiding principles of humanitarian the rapid, safe and unhindered access of relief personnel, equipment and supplies, to all those in need and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance, in particular to internally displaced persons and refugees and stresses that any returns or other durable solutions for IDPs or refugees must be undertaken on a voluntary and informed basis in conditions of dignity and safety;

Further demands that all parties immediately cease all forms of violence, human rights violations and abuses, violations of international humanitarian law, including rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence;

Condemns all violations of applicable international law, including international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of international human rights committed by all parties to the conflict, in particular against children, such as those involving their recruitment and use, killing and maiming, and abduction as well as attacks against schools and hospitals, urges all parties to the conflict to implement the Conclusions on Children and Armed Conflict in South Sudan adopted by the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict on 8 May 2015, strongly urges the Government to fully and immediately implement its revised action plan to end and prevent violations committed against children, and further strongly urges the SPLM/A-in Opposition to fully and immediately implement their commitment to end violations and abuses against children signed on 10 May 2014; takes note of the 29 October 2014 national launch of the campaign “Children, Not Soldiers” by the Government, and welcomes the release of children by the SSDM/A-Cobra faction;

Expresses grave concern at the findings of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict of rampant sexual violence and welcomes the 11 October 2014 Joint Communiqué of the Government of South Sudan and the United Nations on Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, the December 2014 unilateral communiqué issued by the SPLM/A-IO on Preventing Conflict Related Sexual Violence, the appointment by the Government of South Sudan of a High-Level Focal Point to Address Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, and the establishment and work of the Technical Working Group, calls upon both parties as a matter of urgency to finalize actions plans to implement the commitments made under their respective communiqués, urges the Government of South Sudan to implement without delay the commitments made in accordance with resolution 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013), and further calls for specific and time bound commitments by both parties to combat sexual violence in accordance with resolution 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013);

Calls upon the Government of South Sudan to move forward expeditiously and transparently to complete the investigations of allegations of human rights violations and abuses consistent with international standards, and encourages it to release the reports of those investigations;

Further calls upon the Government of South Sudan to hold to account all those responsible for violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, and to ensure that all victims of sexual violence have equal protection under the law and equal access to justice, and to safeguard equal respect for the rights of women and girls in these processes;

Emphasizes the importance of the full and effective participation of women at all levels in the implementation of agreements and in the prevention and resolution of conflict and peacebuilding more broadly, calls upon all parties to ensure women’s full and effective representation and leadership in all conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts, including in the resumption of peace talks, and through support to women’s civil society organizations; welcomes IGAD’s identification of a Gender Adviser, encourages their swift deployment and the full integration of gender concerns in future peace agreements, and encourages Troop- and Police-Contributing Countries to take measures to increase the deployment of women in the military, police, and civilian components of the mission, and reaffirms the importance of appropriate gender expertise and training in all missions mandated by the Security Council;

Condemns attacks on oil installations, petroleum companies and their employees, and the continued fighting around these facilities, and urges all parties to ensure the security of economic infrastructure;

Requests that the Secretary-General report to the Security Council on the implementation of the UNMISS mandate in two written reports, no later than 17 August 2015 and 30 October 2015 respectively;

Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents