Sudan

At the outset, I should like to associate my delegation with the statement delivered by the representative of Egypt on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement. Eleven years have passed since the Secretary General submitted to the Security Council his first report (S/1999/957) on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. We continue to have high hopes that the Council's ongoing deliberations on this issue will lead to a comprehensive approach and far-reaching objective vision on the best means to protect civilians. My delegation believes that first and foremost in that effort should be the elimination of the root causes of armed conflict. Avoiding the causes of conflict and supporting lasting and comprehensive political settlements are the best guarantees for ensuring the protection of civilians. Protection is always more effective than the cure.

The enjoyment of peace by all is what primarily protects civilians. That includes the speedy implementation of development, economic recovery and reconstruction programmes, as well as programmes for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, the provision of services and quick-impact projects to ensure stability and the speedy resettlement of returnees. Peace also guarantees that civilians can leave refugee camps and return to their homes to resume ordinary lives.

The principle of protecting civilians in armed conflict is a noble one to which we all aspire. However, we are concerned by attempts by some countries to utilize that goal to serve particular political aims, such as the ongoing campaign on the so-called responsibility to protect. In that regard, I would like to reiterate that, although referred to in the 2005 Summit Outcome, the responsibility to protect is still the subject of divergent interpretations on the part of Member States. In that connection, we must bear in mind the established principles of the Charter of the United Nations vis-à-vis the sovereignty and legitimacy of Member States and their full responsibility for the protection of their citizens.

Ultimately, the protection of civilians is the responsibility of individual States themselves. Therefore, we should improve the capacities of the concerned States so that they can assume their responsibilities ably, rather than weaken those capacities through sanctions, despite the fact that those who support sanctions try to portray them as either smart or targeted or by using other evasive descriptions. None of those descriptions alter the reality that sanctions cause undeniable harm to the ordinary people of the country targeted.

We believe that the personnel of humanitarian agencies and organizations have a primary responsibility to coordinate with local authorities before going to any areas to which they want to deliver aid so that the Government can offer them the necessary protection. We have recently noticed that many humanitarian workers do not abide by safety procedures or coordinate with the authorities, making them vulnerable to such attacks. Allow me to provide two striking examples of this. Humanitarian workers in Darfur have agreed with us to abide by three rules, one of which is to put insufficient fuel in their vehicles so that car thieves cannot drive them to distant locations. However, humanitarian workers have not followed this advice. That is the first example. Another point that we agreed upon was that they would lock their vehicles when they parked them, but they continue not to do so, which has encouraged many rebels to take advantage of their lax behaviour. These workers are often the personnel of United Nations agencies. Therefore, we want to reaffirm the need to abide by safety measures and to coordinate with the authorities, which would greatly reduce the robberies and attacks against vehicles and minimize the kidnapping of humanitarian workers.