Sudan talks close with progress on two safe aid routes

 

US special envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello and Head of the Saudi Arabian delegation Ali bin Hassan Jafar attend a press conference at the end of Sudan ceasefire talks, in Geneva on August 23, 2024. [AFP]

Talks on the devastating war in Sudan ended Friday without a ceasefire but with progress on securing aid access on two key routes into a country facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese army under the country's de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The brutal conflict has forced one in five people to flee their homes, while tens of thousands have died. More than 25 million across Sudan -- more than half its population -- face acute hunger.

The United States opened talks in Switzerland on August 14 aimed at easing the human suffering and achieving a lasting ceasefire.

While an RSF delegation showed up, the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) were unhappy with the format and did not attend, though they were in telephone contact with the mediators.

The talks were co-hosted by Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, with the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations completing the so-called Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan Group (ALPS).

Unhindered access on two routes

"The ALPS Group secured guarantees from both parties to the conflict to provide safe and unhindered humanitarian access through two key arteries -- the Western border crossing in Darfur at Adre and the Dabbah Road with access through the north and west from Port Sudan," a concluding statement said.

Aid trucks were driving towards the Zamzam displacement camp in Darfur, where famine has been declared, it added.

"These routes must remain open and safe so we can surge aid into Darfur and begin to turn the tide against famine. Food and starvation cannot be used as a weapon of war," the group said.

The mediators said they were also making progress on opening an access route through the Sennar junction in the southeast.

The SAF's no-show at the talks "limited our ability to make more substantial progress" towards a national ceasefire, the group said, adding that the door remained open to both parties in future rounds of talks.

The mediation group said the talks had focused on trying to improve the lot of civilians caught up in the conflict.

"We have urged both parties, and received the RSF's commitment, to issue command directives to all fighters throughout their ranks to refrain from violations, including violence against women or children, the use of starvation or checkpoints for exploitation, and attacks on humanitarian operations," plus attacks on agriculture, they said.

The RSF had also accepted a "streamlined notification system" to facilitate humanitarian aid delivery, the mediators said.

Meanwhile they presented both warring parties with a plan for ensuring compliance with agreements and resolving related disputes.

Hopes for steady aid

During the talks, the government agreed to reopen the Adre crossing from Chad into Sudan's western Darfur region -- something aid organisations had long been pressing for. The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said 15 trucks had made it over the border.

Tom Perriello, the US special envoy for Sudan who convened the Swiss talks, said it remained to be seen whether those first trucks were "the beginning of hundreds or yet another loss of hope".

OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told reporters the opening of the crossings was "a step in the right direction".

"However, fighting the deepening hunger crisis in Sudan means making sure that aid trucks can continue to cross there to secure a steady flow of food, nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene, and medical supplies," he said.

Laerke said more than 130 trucks were approved to cross, but logistical problems kicked in, while the rainy season could also see trucks get bogged down.

Sudan is dealing with outbreaks of measles, dengue fever, malaria, meningitis, polio and cholera.

The World Health Organization said it had secured 455,000 cholera vaccine doses to help fight a new wave of cases fuelled by floods and poor sanitation.

The WHO said there were 658 cases and 28 deaths in the month since the first suspected cases were reported, with Kassala (473) and Gedaref (110) states hardest hit.