Security Council told Sudan war is worsening, with no breakthrough in sight

Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, told the Security Council that the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Sudan continue to deteriorate without any visible breakthrough. She said the warring parties are not moving towards dialogue and believe “that they can make greater gains on the battlefield”. “The picture is bleak”, she said.

Ms. DiCarlo said the fighting is concentrated in North Kordofan, South Kordofan and Blue Nile, but drone attacks now reach far beyond those fronts. She strongly condemned the 3 October drone strikes on two World Food Programme trucks, which killed one driver. UN News reported that the trucks were carrying food between Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan, in an area under repeated attack by the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North. It added that the UN has not formally blamed either group for the strike. She asked outside actors to work to end the war and to stop using drones or strictly regulate them.

A UN News live page published ahead of the meeting gave the scale of the crisis. It listed 20 million people facing acute hunger, 200,000 of them at catastrophe levels, and rising famine risk in parts of Darfur and Greater Kordofan. It said more than 700,000 displaced people in Tawila are short of food, water and healthcare. It also said a drone strike near the Ethiopian border killed 41 displaced people on 10 October. The page does not say which body produced these counts.

On sanctions, the same live page said the arms embargo is still confined to Darfur and that sanctions were extended to 11 December. A French-language UN News report said the Council had only extended the sanctions regime, for lack of agreement on strengthening the existing measures.

Ms. DiCarlo said the UN works with the Quad of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States on a humanitarian truce. She said Pekka Haavisto, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan, is pressing confidence-building steps. The two sides have set up committees on prisoner releases and exchanges. Mr. Haavisto is also working with the United Nations Children’s Fund on a national secondary-school exam open to all Sudanese students. A Chinese-language UN News summary says Mr. Haavisto also briefed the Council. Its full text was not available, so his remarks are not reported here.

Sudan’s representative said “the rays of hope are on the horizon”. He also said: “The war will end with the defeat of the externally supported rebellion”. He said measures must be taken against those supplying weapons, funding and mercenaries. He said States calling for an expanded arms embargo would be making a mistake.

The United States representative said Washington will keep pushing to expand the sanctions regime to “better reflect the realities of the conflict that now spans the entire country”. He said that, with the harvest season beginning, all parties must protect civilians and food systems.

Russia’s representative called attempts to put the Sovereignty Council and the Rapid Support Forces on an equal footing counterproductive. Egypt’s speaker asked for an objective assessment of the existing sanctions. Pakistan’s delegate said “sanctions must serve a political purpose”. Ethiopia’s speaker said his country is troubled by reports that a neighbouring State was operating drone bases and attacking inside Sudan. He did not name that State in the UN record.

The sources report no vote at this meeting and no new Council decision.