Ethiopia: Keeping Peace in Abyei - the Role and Contributions of State

analysis

Since February 2011, Abyei and South Kordofan, oil rich disputed border areas of South Sudan and Sudan, witnessed an intensive military clash between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) forces and the military of the Government of Sudan (GoS). This reached a tipping point when the GoS forces took control of the town of Abyei in May 2011. Since then violent military confrontations have become the hallmark of the relationship between the North and South Sudan.

Facilitated by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, chief of the AU-High-level Implementation Panel, the Addis Ababa Agreement on Abyei was signed by the SPLM forces and the Government of Sudan (GoS) on 20 June, 2011. The main objective of the Addis Agreement on Abyei is to ensure that this border area remains demilitarised until proper demarcation is undertaken. The same agreement provided for the deployment of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission from Ethiopia. The UN Security Council Resolution 1990 authorized a United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

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