Following the resolution of negotiations in Addis Ababa this September, the international community watches on as the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan continue to grapple with critical outstanding issues. In the coming days, the U.N. Security Council will have the opportunity to vote on a set of recommendations from the African Union Peace and Security Council, or A.U. PSC, on ways to address these issues, such as the final status of the disputed Abyei area, unfettered international humanitarian access to the Sudanese states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan, the final definition of the North-South border, and the initiation of direct political negotiations between the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, or SPLM-N.
The A.U. PSC's recommendations are a productive contribution to international efforts to resolve the remaining outstanding issues, and the U.N. Security Council should endorse them while adding to two key areas in which the A.U.'s recommendations are deficient. The Enough Project points out these shortcomings and makes recommendations for the U.N. Security Council's engagement in a new policy brief released today. One, the A.U.'s recommendations do not identify any consequences, should any party choose not to comply with them. Two, the A.U.'s recommendations do not offer a constructive way forward on the issue of unrestricted international humanitarian access to the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The U.N. Security Council must rectify these issues through the adoption of a resolution, under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which ...
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