- Norway welcomes the UN Security Council Presidential Statement on Sudan, in which the Security Council clearly states that it supports the peace negotiations and looks forward to the rapid conclusion of a peace agreement.

The statement also gives the green light for the UN to begin preparations for a broad-based international peace-keeping and peace-building effort in Sudan, said Minister of International Development Hilde F. Johnson, commenting on the Presidential Statement adopted by the UN Security Council on the peace process in Sudan on Friday 10 October.

In the Statement, the Security Council expresses its support for the IGAD-led peace negotiations and the agreement on security arrangements signed on 25 September 2003. It also expresses its support for the international monitoring presence that has already been established in Sudan, including the Norwegian-led Joint Monitoring Commission in the Nuba Mountains.

“I am pleased to see that the Security Council has now given the go-ahead for the UN Secretariat to begin planning a broad-based international effort in support of a peace agreement. This will help to speed up the preparations for an international presence to monitor a cease-fire agreement. For Norway, which is co-chairing the donor-country group IGAD Partner Forum, it is particularly important that the UN, too, can now begin planning the international assistance needed to support a peace agreement,” said the Minister.

Ms. Johnson also stressed the significance of the Security Council’s support for the JMC and the other monitoring mechanisms that are already being implemented in Sudan. She said that this is a strong signal of the importance of this international presence and expressed the hope that it would inspire other actors to support these groups.