Griffiths: Jeddah talks crucial opportunity and UNITAMS welcomes

Moatinoon
Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations, viewed the Jeddah talks now under way as a critical opportunity to inform the people of the Sudan not to forget them, assuring them of Sudans access to the life-saving care, protection and assistance it needs.

In a statement issued today, Griffiths attributed the hindrance of relief work in the Sudan to continued fighting, insecurity and red tape, making the Sudans working environment extremely difficult. ``We need the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to break the bureaucratic impasse. We need to be fully committed to international humanitarian law. we need it to ensure safe, sustainable and unimpeded access to those in need, whether in Darfur, Khartoum or Kordofan “.

Griffiths welcomed the resumption of the talks and expressed gratitude to Saudi Arabia and the United States for co-hosting them.

His Office, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), had facilitated the humanitarian path of such negotiations in the light of the massive humanitarian crisis in the Sudan.

The humanitarian community had done its utmost to meet the ever-escalating needs. ``Since mid-April, we have reached 3.6 million people in some form of assistance - but this represents only 20% of the people we hope to help.``

For its part, it welcomed the resumption of talks between SAF and RSF representatives in Jeddah and hoped that this new round of negotiations would result in the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment to the Protection of Civilians in the Sudan, signed on 11 May 2023, and a comprehensive ceasefire, which were crucial to alleviating the suffering of the Sudanese people.