Netherlands Ambassador to Sudan visits North Darfur

The Netherlands Ambassador to Sudan, Irma van Dueren, who is also ambassador to Eritrea and Chad, began a visit to North Darfur today to asses projects funded by the government of the Netherlands in the state.

Ambassador Van Deuren and her delegation were received at the airport of the state capital El Fasher by the Secretary-General of the North Darfur government, Hafiz Bakheet Mohamed, and several state officials, the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reports.

During her visit, the ambassador will identify projects implemented by the Food and Nutrition Security Project, aimed at building the resilience and improving livelihoods, supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization* of the United Nations (FAO), which is partially funded by the Dutch government.

Ambassador Van Dueren will hold meetings with the North Darfur government to discuss the workflow of these projects. Her delegation will then head for Kalimendo locality to the southeast of the capital to learn about the position of implementation of the resilience programme projects.

The Dutch ambassador’s visit comes shortly after the North Darfur state government declared a State of Emergency in Tawila and Dar El Salam localities on Tuesday for security reasons, following repeated attacks and security breaches, with the intent to protect the harvest season.

Radio Dabanga receives daily reports of murder, rapes, robberies, and abuse of civilians by armed bandits riding camels and motorcycles, who wreak havoc across the state, especially after the withdrawal of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) peacekeeping mission which competed its drawdown exercise in June 2021, as stipulated by UN Security Council resolution 2559 (2020), which ended the mission’s mandate at the end of last year. The ongoing lack of security has prompted much public anger.

* The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Its goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With over 194 member states, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.