UN envoy joins meeting to coordinate Sudan peace efforts, as aid blocked to besieged El Fasher

December 17, 2024 (UNITED NATIONS) – The U.N. envoy for Sudan is joining international talks in Mauritania aimed at coordinating peace efforts, a U.N. spokesman said on Tuesday, while aid agencies struggle to deliver food to the besieged city of El Fasher in the western Darfur region.

Ramtane Lamamra, the U.N. Secretary-General’s personal envoy, will attend a two-day meeting in Nouakchott starting Wednesday, spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. The talks will bring together representatives from the African Union, the European Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Arab League, and key countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

The meeting is “an important opportunity to discuss the status of good offices, mediation efforts and various peace initiatives in the spirit of coordination and unity,” Dujarric said.

The diplomatic push comes amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where a conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has raged for more than a year and a half.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has been unable to get food aid into El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, which has been under siege, Dujarric said, citing the agency.

“Recent operational progress is fragile, as the situation on the ground is volatile and it remains dangerous,” he said.

However, a WFP convoy carrying 178 metric tons of food and nutritional aid reached Kalma Camp in South Darfur, providing assistance to nearly 15,000 people, Dujarric said. The convoy was initially destined for Zamzam Camp but was rerouted due to security concerns.

The WFP has delivered food aid to more than 800,000 people in areas facing or at risk of famine, including internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in North Darfur and parts of Khartoum, Dujarric said. This represents nearly half of the 1.7 million people in those categories.

The agency is trying to reach 14 hunger hotspots across Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, and Gezira states, but efforts are hampered by ongoing fighting, Dujarric added.