UN welcomes Saudi-led talks on conflict in Sudan
October 30, 2023 (NEW YORK) – The United Nations has welcomed the resumption of talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to end the months-long conflict between the Sudanese army and its rival paramilitary force which has left more than 9,000 people dead.
More than six months since the start of the crisis in Sudan, the humanitarian tragedy in the country continues to unfold unabated,” the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said on Sunday.
He described the situation in Sudan as “dire” and welcomed the resumption of the talks in Saudi Arabia.
“Thousands of people have been killed or injured. One in nine people has fled their homes. Nearly one-third of the population could soon become food insecure,” explained Griffiths.
Conflict broke out in Sudan in mid-April, when tensions between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force erupted in Khartoum and elsewhere across the east African nation.
The UN emergency relief chief said Sudan’s health system is in tatters, with the specter of disease outbreaks, including cholera, looming. Moreover, a generation of Sudanese children risk missing out on a full education.
He stressed that the humanitarian community is doing everything possible to meet these ever-increasing needs.
“Since mid-April, we have provided assistance to 3.6 million people, but this represents only 20 per cent of the people we hope to help,” Griffiths explained, noting that humanitarian workers “are paralyzed by fighting, insecurity and red tape, making the operating environment in Sudan extremely difficult.”
Griffiths, who is also the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, appealed to the warring factions to fully adhere to international humanitarian law.
“We need them to secure safe, sustained and unhindered access to people in need, be it in Darfur, Khartoum or the Kordofans,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) also welcomed the resumption of talks in Jeddah, which are being facilitated by Saudi Arabia, as well as the United States, the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
The UN mission said that it hoped “this new round of negotiations results in the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, signed on May 11, 2023, and in a comprehensive ceasefire, all of which are two crucial factors in alleviating the suffering of the Sudanese people.”
The mission also welcomed current initiatives from a wide range of civilian actors calling for an end to the war, emphasizing the urgent need for a solution that would lead to a resumption of the democratic political transition.
(ST)