For years, the people of Sudan have been living under international crises and sanctions, but the presence of the UAE alongside its Sudanese brethren prompted the UN Security Council to take a historic decision to set a time frame for sanctions against Sudan.

The UAE successfully lobbied the UN Security Council to adopt the “sunset clause” for sanctions against Sudan that the council has imposed since 2004.

The goal of adding a “sunset clause” to change the sanctions format is from an “open” system that has no expiration date; This has led to the Council not amending or revising the sanctions measures for nearly two decades, to a “time-bound” formula that now requires the Council, for the first time in nearly 18 years, to review the sanctions measures in September 2024.

“The three African countries and the UAE voted in favor of this text, especially as the adoption of the ‘sunset clause’ would change the sanctions regime from ‘open’ to ‘time-bound’,” said Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s permanent representative to the United Nations. “This is an important development at a time when we are charting a course for the final lifting of sanctions.”

Sudanese Foreign Ministry

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an explanatory statement on the Security Council resolution on the sunset clause.

The ministry said in a statement carried by the official news agency SUNA: Thanks to intense diplomatic moves by the Foreign Ministry, and due to the strong support it found from a group of countries, especially Gabon, Ghana, Mozambique, as well as the United Arab Emirates, the Security Council adopted a resolution that puts a time limit on the lifting of these sanctions, for a period of 18 months, for the first time since the imposition of these sanctions 18 years ago.

UAE support continues

“Abu Dhabi’s role in supporting Sudan as a brotherly Arab state has extended to host the mediation team from South Sudan and funded the logistics of the Juba negotiations almost a year ago, which it succeeded in doing,” said Sudanese political analyst Mohamed Elias.

Elias added that the UAE had a remarkable presence in the peace negotiations and the ceremony of signing the agreement initialed. Those positions were praised by the Southern mediation and the Sudanese leadership during the ceremony that was held in Juba, and it was therefore necessary to see the UAE support for Sudan to remove the sanctions that have been in place for nearly 20 years, during which the people of Sudan suffered many crises.