UN envoy calls for urgent, intensive dialogue in Abyei
February 24, 2024 (ABYEI) – The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa, Hanna Tetteh has called for urgent and intensive dialogue between Twic Dinka and Ngok Dinka group to prevent hostilities in Abyei area.
Tetteh accompanied the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix on a tour of the territory claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan.
During the week-long tour, the two UN officials also met with political leaders in South Sudan and travelled to Abyei to support efforts to address rising insecurity.
Lacroix expressed concern over the spillover effect of the Sudan crisis into South Sudan, stressing the UN’s strong and ongoing support for South Sudan as it deals with a dire humanitarian situation, persistent intercommunal fighting, and works to overcome significant obstacles to holding the forthcoming elections.
Since the start of the war, nearly 8 million people, half of them children, have reportedly fled Sudan while around 560,000 have taken refuge in South Sudan.
UN estimates show around 1,500 new arrivals turn up in South Sudan on daily basis.
Thousands of civilians, UN figures show, have been killed in the ongoing war.
Additionally, some 25 million people, more than half of Sudan’s population, need humanitarian assistance, while an estimated 3.8 million children under the age of five are suffering from malnutrition, according to the UN.
(ST)