Thank you, Mr President.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands commends the independent and impartial monitoring and reporting of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, which supports South Sudan on its difficult road to peace and accountability.

While we recognise that South Sudan has made some progress and in this regard welcome the passing of legislation on transitional justice institutions hoping to also see concrete and urgent steps taken in terms of operationalisation.

We are worried that the elections have been postponed. Likewise, the fact that human rights abuses and violations are ongoing and go unpunished can only be met with sombreness.

The current situation, with escalating violence between parties to the peace agreement, and the arrest of vice-president Riek Machar, must be turned around in order to avoid further deterioration of the human rights situation in South Sudan.

It is absolutely clear that the Commission’s work is vital now and will be for some time in the future. We strongly call upon all States to support the renewal of its mandate by voting YES on this resolution.

I thank you.