Thank you.  I know you will find this unusual - I’d like to ask permission to speak frankly.

This is the fourteenth meeting I have attended about the crisis facing the people of South Sudan, in one capacity or another. For many years I attended this meeting as somebody who believes strongly that the people of South Sudan should have their right to self determination and determine their future. They suffered then. It is a tragedy and an abomination, quite frankly, that in the wake of South Sudan’s independence we are here again and still having a meeting about the crisis facing the people of South Sudan.

Let me make one thing very clear, the United States will continue to stand with the people of South Sudan. Our support for them will not waiver. I am pleased to announce today, in some ways but also disappointed, to announce that we we are committing an additional 133 million dollars in humanitarian assistance to support them. That brings us to 1.9 billion dollars.

Yes, I am proud, as are my colleagues. And trust me I have a lot of them in the US government that work this issue everyday. I am proud of that number. I am horrified that that many dollars are not being spent on the development on South Sudan. We are spending that money to keep people alive. We are spending that money to keep people from going over the edge into outright famine. We are not investing that money in South Sudan’s abundant resources, its abundant potential to be an agricultural powerhouse for the entire region.

Every day that we spend those dollars we fall further behind. We are losing in the race to improve their lives. We are losing in the race to build a foundation of development in South Sudan. We are losing in the race while the rest of South Sudan’s neighbors are working at it to build a regional economic community that can provide a market that can engage in the world.

So yes, I am proud to announce these additional dollars, but I am heartbroken that that’s what we are forced to do. We are all committed and will remain committed to helping the people of South Sudan, despite the obstacles that are put in the way by the people who claim the mantle of leadership.

I will tell you quite honestly; I understand that some commitments have been made. We welcome those, but as has just been said and I think all of us believe, words are not sufficient to keep people alive or to stop what has been one of the greatest tragedies and violations of not just humanitarian principle but the goodwill of people all over the world. Words are not sufficient. If you mean it, and I would strongly recommend that you make fewer commitments and deliver on them than say we are going to fix everything by tomorrow.  

We need to see a halt absolutely and unequivocally of attacks on civilians. We need to see just not permission of access; we need to see government leading the way to provide that access. We need to see acceptance of the regional protection force that the Security Council and your colleagues and friends and partners in Africa have called for. I think our chance, quite frankly, to catch up before South Sudan takes a role on the list of failed states is very limited.

We, none of us here today, will fail the people of South Sudan. But I think we’ve got to be absolutely dead sober. That unless there is a fundamental change in the situation - and very quickly - unless these things: a halt to attacks on civilians, a halt to attacks on the men and women from around the world who stand with them, the provision of access,  the acceptance of a force that can help South Sudan achieve the future we all continue to believe in, despite the evidence.

Unless we see that soon, we are not going to catch up. And we’re going to see something that I believe strongly having - I don’t know what you do, break your teeth? - gotten my start in a famine in your region of the world that was man-made.We will have on our hands a man-made famine. There is no excuse for that-- none. So I would urge you: make your commitments, deliver on them, make fewer, move more quickly, try to rebuild the confidence of those who stand with your people and of your people themselves.

Again, the United States will continue to provide assistance. This is a commitment we have had and will sustain for a long time. But it is my sincere hope that I am not invited to attend the 15th meeting of what we’re going to do to save the people of South Sudan. Thank you very much.