Diplomatic efforts to end Sudan war intensify despite continued fighting: UN envoy

Diplomatic efforts to end Sudan’s civil war are increasing despite continued fighting, the UN secretary-general’s personal envoy for Sudan said Wednesday, highlighting new confidence-building initiatives, Anadolu reports.

“We also are witnessing more diplomatic efforts than earlier around Sudan,” Pekka Haavisto told reporters in Geneva following the sixth consultative meeting on Sudan, co-hosted by the UN and Switzerland.

Responding to Anadolu’s question about concrete progress compared with previous meetings, Haavisto pointed to growing international engagement with Sudanese political actors.

He highlighted a “successful” visit to Khartoum in September and meetings with political groups, women and youth representatives.

However, Haavisto warned that some parties in Sudan still believed they could achieve a military victory.

“We, the international community, are saying that there is no military solution to the conflict in Sudan,” he said, stressing the need for diplomatic negotiations.

Haavisto said the UN had begun exploring two confidence-building measures, including possible exchanges of prisoners of war and detainees, both civilians and soldiers.

The second initiative aims to facilitate students’ access to examinations regardless of where they live, he said.

He described the initiatives as “baby steps” compared with the destruction caused by the conflict.

– International coordination intensifies

The two-day Geneva meeting brought together representatives of 21 countries and five international institutions to discuss security arrangements, humanitarian truces, possible ceasefires and political solutions.

Haavisto highlighted intensified coordination between the Quad, comprising the US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt, and the Quintet.

The Quintet consists of the African Union, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, League of Arab States, EU and UN.

Haavisto described the increased coordination as “maybe the most important fact.”

He said discussions aimed to connect security negotiations with political planning for the period following a possible ceasefire.

Swiss Ambassador Tim Enderlin, head of the Foreign Ministry’s peace and human rights division, also stressed the need for coordinated international efforts and an inclusive, Sudanese-led peace process.

“We tried these two days to come up with coordinated efforts that will help to establish a peace process that can be inclusive, that involves the people of Sudan, where their voices are heard,” Enderlin said.

He said the aim was to establish a process that “in the end, is Sudan-owned and Sudan-led.”

Enderlin warned that the consequences of the conflict extended beyond Sudan to neighboring countries.

He said 34 million people in Sudan depended on humanitarian assistance, describing the country as facing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.