Sudan's warring parties have signed a commitment Thursday establishing guidelines for allowing humanitarian assistance into the country. However, the “Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan” did not include a cease-fire. Meanwhile, United Nations officials said Friday that 200,000 people have now fled the violence in Sudan to neighboring countries, while 734,000 people have been displaced inside Sudan.
The agreement signed late Thursday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by representatives of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is intended to ensure the protection of civilians, including “allowing safe passage for civilians to leave areas of active hostilities on a voluntary basis, in the direction they choose.”
The Declaration of Commitment requires both sides to permit humanitarian assistance, to allow the restoration of electricity, water and other basic services, to withdraw security forces from hospitals and to arrange for “respectful burial” of the dead.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the signing of the Declaration of Commitment on Friday in a statement released through his spokesman.
“While humanitarian workers, most notably local partners, have continued to deliver in very difficult circumstances, the Secretary-General hopes this Declaration will ensure that the relief operation can scale up swiftly and safely to meet the needs of millions of people in Sudan”, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said.
Guterees reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire and expanded discussions to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities.
“The United Nations will spare no effort to assist in the Declaration’s implementation and will continue to deliver humanitarian aid, ceasefire or not”, Dujarric said.
Addressing a media briefing in Geneva Friday via video link from Sudan, the UN Special Representative for Sudan Volker Perthes said he expected talks on a cease-fire to continue Friday or Saturday.
He briefed the journalists on the latest events in Sudan including Jeddah talks, noting that the Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan signed yesterday was an important first step in the right direction.
“Aside from that, I think the most important element of this understanding that was signed last night is that both sides commit to continuing their talks under the mediation of Saudis and the Americans,” Perthes said.
He noted that the parties to the conflict had reconfirmed Friday morning their intent to stay and continue talks towards a real ceasefire, which would need to be accompanied by a monitoring mechanism.
Perthes said both sides have ignored every cease-fire agreement signed during the four weeks since the conflict began because both believe they can win, and they are trying to improve their positions.
The conflict between Sudan’s military headed up by General Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary group led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out on April 15 after months of rising tensions over the country's political future and the RSF's planned integration into the national army. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and thousands injured in the fighting.
Because of the intense violence and the deteriorating humanitarian situation nearly one million people have left their homes since the clashes began four weeks ago. While at least 734,000 people are displaced inside Sudan, some 205,000 have fled to neighboring countries in search of assistance and protection.
Humanitarian needs in Sudan were already at record levels before the situation deteriorated, with some 15.8 million people – about a third of the population – requiring humanitarian assistance. A quarter of Sudan's population - 11.7 million people - were severely food insecure.
Before the fighting started, Sudan hosted about 1.2 million refugees, one of the largest refugee populations in Africa, some 3.7 million Sudanese were internally displaced, mostly in the Darfur region that has experienced a volatile security situation since 2003. More than 800,000 Sudanese had fled to neighboring countries.
Further information
Full text: “Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan”, US State Department, released May 11, 2023
https://www.state.gov/jeddah-declaration-of-commitment-to-protect-the-civilians-of-sudan/
Full text: Volker Perthes: Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan is an important first step in the right direction, UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), press release, published May 12, 2023
https://unitams.unmissions.org/en/volker-perthes-declaration-commitment-protect-civilians-sudan-important-first-step-right-direction