Volker Perthes – Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan and Head of the United Nations Transitional Assistance Mission in the country (UNITAMS) – stressed that the rival military leaders have agreed to respect international humanitarian and human rights law, and remove the fighters from hospitals and medical facilities.
Mr. Perthes also noted that the Sudanese army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have decided to continue their talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah on the potential termination.
Hope for continued ceasefire talks
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, via Zoom from Port Sudan where the UN and partners have established a coastal humanitarian base, Mr. Perthes said that writing on the announcement of this first signature, The aim is to reach a goal which will also be an “agreement with itself”, contrary to the previous, unilaterally declared establishments..
His hope is that “within the next couple of days“, the talks in Jeddah under the leadership of Saudi and American mediators will lead to such an agreement, giving it “more stability and more respect”, and with clear provisions on the procedures involved including troop movements and personnel delays.
Commitments must be honored
Mr Perthes also expressed hope that parties would “do what they can” to communicate down the chain of command the humanitarian agreements reached in Jeddah. must be respected.
The agreement was approved by a “tripartite process” made up of the United Nations, the African Union and a regional body known as the International Organization for Development in East Africa (IGAD).
More than 200,000 have fled
Meanwhile, the number of people who fled in Sudan passed the 200,000 markThe UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.
A There is a race against time in America to provide those who have fled with relief assistance before the next rainy season makes logistics even more difficult. Funding shortages exacerbate humanitarian challenges, as UNHCR’s operations in neighboring countries were around 15 per cent funded before the conflict.
Life for malnourished children is ruined
In another example of the effects of conflict disasters on the most vulnerable in Sudan, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday that a fire destroyed a factory in Khartoum that supplies ready to use medicinal food for the treatment of children suffer from severe malnutrition.
According to UNICEF, the the equivalent of food for some 14,500 children was destroyed in the fire, including machinery, compromising future production. The agency says Sudan has one of the highest rates of malnutrition among children in the world, with more than three million children are severely malnourished.
UNICEF spokesman James Elder said that in the overall response to the crisis, around 34,000 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food are on their way from France to Sudan.
He said he did not know the cause of the fire.
As the conflict escalates in Sudan, refugees arrive in the Chadian village of Koufroun, which is located on the Chad-Sudan border.
Soldiers warned of consequences: Perthes
In an interview conducted in Arabic by the UN in Geneva with the head of UNITAMS Volker Perthes on Friday, he said that there were warning signs before the outbreak of hostilities on April 15, of potential conflict between rival forces.
“We warn both parties of this possibility and this scenario“, he said that if they start fighting, “the country and society will be destroyed.”
He said that both sides may have thought the fight would be short, but now there is an understanding that victory “will not be easy” and that it will be a loss for “a large part of the country.”
Distribution of rescue aid
Asked about how we can distribute more humanitarian aid to the millions in need across Sudan, Mr. Perthes said the Jeddah agreement is promising, but access to the capital Khartoum is essential, and is not possible without humanitarian means. safety.
“So we hope that yesterday’s agreement will really help to be used on the ground by humanitarian agencies, the United Nations, and non-governmental organization partners.”
On the speed of delivery, he said that looting across Sudan at the beginning of the conflict, has been a major handicap to the project.
“Warehouses and cars were stolen and Trucks carrying aid from the east of the country or from the center to Darfur were also hijacked…when your office and car are stolen it is very difficult to help.
“Today, there are new plans, especially in preparations for the provision of Darfur by Chad, which also requires coordination with neighboring countries, with the Government, with armed movements in Darfur and other actors.”
