Thank you, Mr. President,

Albania aligns with the Joint Statement in the name of the Item 2 core group on the South Sudan resolution.

Albania thanks the members of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan for their outstanding work and the government of South Sudan for its cooperation with the Commission.

We remain deeply concerned about the security and political tensions across the country; systematic sexual violence against women and girls, the ongoing presence of children in fighting forces, state-sponsored extrajudicial killings; the shrinking of civil and political space, and the harassment of journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society actors.

The humanitarian crisis is at risk of worsening during 2024. We call on the government to step up its efforts and provide durable and holistic solutions to the chronic humanitarian crisis.

We also call on the South Sudan government to take all measures necessary to guarantee political and civic space, as well as the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of association, and peaceful assembly across South Sudan, thereby creating conditions for the credible conduct of the constitution-making, transitional justice, and national electoral processes.

To conclude, we support the extension of the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan for a further period of one year.

Thank you.