Red Cross hopes to resume work in Sudan ‘soon’

In a news release issued today, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stated that it has suspended its activities in Sudan, “in compliance with an official request to that effect from the Sudanese government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission”. The suspension began on 1 February 2014.  “In consultation with our main partner, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society, we are now in discussions with the relevant authorities, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Humanitarian Aid Commission,” Jean-Christophe Sandoz, head of the ICRC’s delegation in Sudan, said. “We are confident that the technical issues cited by the Commission as the reason for this suspension will be quickly settled.”  The ICRC has more than 700 staff in Sudan, both locally recruited and expatriate. Its activities in the country in 2013 benefited more than 1.5 million people. The organisation has been working in Sudan since 1978. In 2003, it extended its operations to Darfur. File photo: ICRC technicians repair a hand pump in El Sareif, North Darfur (Tim Yates/ICRC) Related: Sudan suspends all Red Cross activities (31 January 2014)