By Coletta Wanjohi
Conflict-ridden Sudan awaits with cautious optimism the UN Security Council's scheduled briefing on secretary-general António Guterres's statement reaffirming the organisation's commitment to supporting the North African country "on its path towards peace and stability".
Guterres's remarks came as the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan drew to a close in keeping with a Security Council resolution terminating its mandate.
In some ways, the end of one chapter marks the beginning of another for the Horn of Africa nation, where troops commandeered by military leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan have been engaged in fratricidal fighting with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, since April 15 last year.
"The UN has not stepped into the Sudanese conflict so far," Ali Elsadig Ali Hussien, acting minister of foreign affairs in Gen al-Burhan's Transitional Sovereignty Council, told TRT Afrika.
"Any war in the world ends up on the negotiation table. We are still committed to peace," he declared.
Although mediation efforts by regional players haven't yielded a positive outcome yet, the foreign minister's remark is perhaps more than just an acknowledgement of the power of dialogue.
"The UN secretary-general recently appointed a special envoy (former Algerian deputy PM Ramtane Lamamra) who is now trying to talk to all stakeholders, regional powers, and our Sudanese neighbours to formulate something. We need to see where this takes us in the short term," Hussien said.
The agenda for the upcoming Security Council session includes finding ways to support efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Sudan and ensuring continuous and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid. The council may also decide to extend the mandate of the Sudan Sanctions Panel of Experts, which expires on March 12.
May agreement
Sudan's transitional administration says the country's return to normalcy is anchored in an agreement that the warring factions inked just a month after fighting broke out.
"That agreement constitutes a good option out of the war," foreign minister Hussien said of the May 2023 Jeddah declaration governing a short-term ceasefire and humanitarian arrangements.
The pact was brokered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the US.
"The major clause was that the militia should vacate government buildings and residential houses so people could return home. But they (RSF) did not own up to their signature. Hence, we are going nowhere," Hussien said.
Ceaseless fighting
Subsequent deals and attempts to get the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF to back down haven't borne fruit either.
As the conflict nears its second year, the beleaguered Sudanese continue to cower under the rat-a-tat of gunfire. The UN reports that "the RSF has made significant advances, taking control of most of Darfur and western Kordofan, and large areas of Khartoum and Omdurman".
The humanitarian challenge triggered by the fighting is growing. According to the UN, nearly 25 million people—approximately half of Sudan's population—need aid.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that 10.7 million people have been displaced by the conflict, including nine million internally. The UN terms it the "largest internal displacement crisis globally".
Reports from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project show that over 13,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
"The problem is that the international community is not giving enough aid to the people. They talk a lot but give little," foreign minister Hussien said.
Some 1.7 million people from Sudan have sought refuge in neighbouring countries, including the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, and South Sudan.
"We are brothers; we have left our borders open for those seeking refuge, and we are welcoming them, plus some of our nationals who lived in Sudan and are coming back," James Morgan, South Sudan's minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, told TRT Afrika.
Humanitarian agencies have been flagging inaccessibility to some parts of Sudan because of the fighting as a barrier to dispensing aid.
Hussien said they should blame the "militia" for that, not the Sudanese transitional administration.
"As far as the government of Sudan is concerned, we are doing our utmost to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. Even though we are at war, and the economy is in tatters, we are helping displaced people inside the country and even those seeking refuge elsewhere," he said.
"In Chad, for example, we bought food from the local market and distributed it among the Sudanese refugees there."
Mediation roadblocks
In January this year, African Union Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat appointed a high-level panel on Sudan.
When the three-member team met Gen al-Burhan, he reportedly said, "Sudan has confidence in the African Union's potential solutions, but only if the state regains its full membership and the organisation treats it as such."
Sudan remains suspended from the African Union since June 6, 2019. The AU Peace and Security Council made this decision based on its assessment of a "lack of progress towards establishing a civilian-led transitional authority" since its initial meeting following the coup d’etat of April 11, 2019.
AU insists that the "effective establishment of a civilian-led transitional authority" is the only exit from Sudan's crisis.
But plans to hold general elections have been scuttled by the ongoing conflict.
Continental mediation efforts ran into hurdles when Sudan suspended its membership of the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) in protest against Gen Dagalo being invited to its summit.
The eight-member bloc had been working on facilitating mediation between the warring forces.
Sudan accused IGAD of setting "a dangerous precedent" by "violating our sovereignty".
Neighbour South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, hasn't lost hope.
"Our President Salva Kiir is trying his best to bring the two warring generals to the negotiating table. Though they are not forthcoming, he isn't giving up," Hussein's South Sudanese counterpart said.
AU believes only the Sudanese can solve the conflict in their country, and all they need is support to do so.
Sudan's transitional administration acknowledges this, saying that for all the support neighbours and other entities can offer, peace must come from the Sudanese themselves.
