Cairo conference on Sudan war yields mixed results

Sudanese political and civil society groups that met in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Saturday under the slogan ‘Together to Stop the War’, have stressed the need to stop the war immediately and work to provide urgent humanitarian aid for the Sudanese people. In a joint statement following the conference yesterday, they condemned all violations committed during the war, stressing the need to re-establish the Sudanese state on the foundations of justice, freedom and peace. Some government officials and leaders of rebel factions refused to sign the statement.

The Cairo meeting was attended by representatives from neighbouring countries and regional and international organisations, and discussed the critical situations that threaten Sudan’s stability, independence and territorial integrity.

The closing statement of the conference yesterday stressed that the war that broke out on April 15, 2023, caused a horrific humanitarian disaster, displacing millions of families, leading to food and medical shortages, and increasing illiteracy and extremism.

Participants stressed the need to stop the war immediately and work to provide urgent humanitarian aid for the Sudanese people.

They condemned all violations committed during the war, stressing the need to re-establish the Sudanese state on the foundations of justice, freedom and peace. The statement called for comprehensive national reconciliation and transitional justice to ensure a better future for future generations.

The participants called for the necessity of adhering to the Jeddah Declaration and developing mechanisms for its implementation in line with the developments of the war, and called on the countries supporting the parties to the conflict to stop fuelling the conflict. The statement also stressed the protection of humanitarian workers and the provision of the necessary assistance to save the lives of millions of Sudanese.

The conference participants agreed on the need to preserve Sudan as a unified state based on citizenship, equal rights, and a federal, democratic civil state. They stressed the importance of forming a committee to follow up on peace efforts and ensure the implementation of what was agreed upon during the conference.

Dissenters

Some government officials and leaders of rebel factions refused to sign the statement, including Malik Agar, vice-president of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council and head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction in Blue Nile region, Jibril Ibrahim, Finance Minister and leader of a faction of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and Minni Minawi, governor of the Darfur region and leader of a Sudan Liberation Movement faction. All three parties are fighting alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

Minawi attributed this to the failure to condemn the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) human rights violations of and “not standing with the victims of the RSF”.

Sudan’s Finance Minister Ibrahim said: “Given the situation on the ground, if we sit and eat and drink and laugh with the people who are allied and partners in the crimes that are happening we would be sending the wrong message to our citizens and to our soldiers.”