US Special Envoy in Kenya to discuss Sudan conflict
August 28, 2023 (KAMPALA) – The US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Mike Hammer is in Kenya as part of efforts to resolve Sudan’s ongoing conflict.
Hammer, the US spokesman said in statement on Monday, will meet officials from Kenya, Ethiopia, the African Union, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and other international partners from 28 August to 9 September.
“He will discuss the ongoing crisis in Sudan and regional and international efforts to end the violence, establish democratic governance, and support justice and accountability,” partly reads the statement.
It added, “In Ethiopia, he will also discuss continued implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement as well as urge the protection of civilians and a negotiated resolution to ongoing conflicts in the Amhara and Oromia regions”.
The statement comes barely a week after the US strongly condemned the pervasive conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan, citing credible sources and victims who attributed it to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militias.
According to the US, accountability for sexual violence in conflict is a core priority for its government, as reflected in the Presidential Memorandum signed by President Joe Biden in November 2022, which directs the use of all available tools, including legal, policy, diplomatic and financial tools to deter such violence.
More than 4.5 million people have reportedly been displaced inside and outside Sudan due to the conflict that erupted on 15 April between SAF and the RSF.
(ST)