US-led mediators say they have secured guarantees from Sudan's warring parties at talks in Switzerland to improve access for humanitarian aid, but the Sudanese army's absence from the discussions has hindered progress on ending 16 months of war.
Over 10 days of talks in Geneva, a new group of mediators including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates tried to negotiate more aid and protection for civilians facing famine, mass displacement and spreading disease after 16 months of war between the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries.
At the end of talks on Friday, the mediators, calling themselves the Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan (ALPS) Group, said they had "secured guarantees from both parties to the conflict to provide safe and unhindered humanitarian access through two key arteries – the Western border crossing in Darfur at Adre and the Dabbah Road with access through the north and west from Port Sudan".
Aid trucks were driving towards the Zamzam displacement camp in Darfur, where famine has been declared, it added. The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said 15 trucks had made it over the border.
"These routes must remain open and safe so we can surge aid into Darfur and begin to turn the tide against famine. Food and starvation cannot be used as a weapon of war," the group said in its concluding statement.
The mediators said they were also making progress on opening an access route through the Sennar junction in the southeast.
Famine and floods add to distress of Sudanese displaced by war
SAF no-show limits progress
The group acknowledged, however, that any progress fell far short of the response needed for one of the world's worst humanitarian crises – one in five people have been forced to flee their homes and tens of thousands have died. More than half of the country's 50 million population are facing acute hunger.
"We hope that this will be a source of momentum for much bigger steps and progress down the road," US Sudan envoy Tom Perriello told a press conference in Geneva on Friday.
"The sad thing is, the crisis in Sudan is so severe that we could do four of these [negotiation rounds] and still be barely scratching the surface of what Sudanese people deserve."
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In an illustration of the challenges, only a fraction of the aid available at Adre has been dispatched this week, as the army-aligned government imposed a halt to movements after the crossing opened for the first time in months.
Despite intense diplomatic lobbying, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) were unhappy with the format and did not send a formal delegation to Switzerland, though they were in telephone contact with the mediators.
"Though we were in consistent communication with SAF virtually, we regret their decision not to be present, and we believe that limited our ability to make more substantial progress towards key issues, particularly a national cessation of hostilities," ALPS said in its statement.
(with newswires)
