The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, welcomed this Friday the agreement between the parties to the conflict in Sudan, which guarantees the protection of civilians and the passage of humanitarian aid, and reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire.
In a statement, the spokesman for the United Nations Organization (UN), Stéphane Dujarric, indicated that Guterres continues to call for expanding the discussions to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities.
“The Secretary General welcomes the signing by the parties to the conflict in Sudan of the Declaration of Commitment to protect civilians and guarantee the safe passage of humanitarian aid in the country,” the note says.
“While humanitarian workers, particularly local partners, continue to deliver services under very difficult circumstances, the Secretary-General hopes that this Declaration of Commitment will ensure that the relief operation can be scaled up quickly and safely to meet the needs of millions. of people in Sudan,” he added.
Also according to Dujarric, the United Nations “will spare no effort” to help implement the Declaration and will continue to provide humanitarian aid, in the event of a ceasefire or not.
The agreement, reached this morning, includes a series of commitments from both parties, which undertake to facilitate humanitarian action to meet the needs of the civilian population, but does not detail how the troops on the ground will fulfill the agreed humanitarian promises.
In previous moments, the two parties agreed to suspend the confrontations, but with a limited duration and with accusations by both sides of non-compliance by the other military force.
The agreement signing ceremony, mediated by the United States of America and Saudi Arabia, was broadcast by the Saudi state press this morning.
The conflict in Sudan is between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and from April 15 to date more than 600 people have died in the fighting, more than 150,000 fled the country and more than 700,000 were forced to move internally.
The World Food Program (WFP) admits that the armed conflict unleashed in Sudan could cause acute food insecurity in the country at record levels, with more than 19 million people affected, two fifths of its population.
The fighting broke out after weeks of tension over reform of the security forces in talks to form a new transitional government.
Both forces were behind the coup that ousted Sudan’s transitional executive in October 2021.
Source: TSF
