Sudan: Meeting under “Any Other Business”
Today (26 March) at 4:30 pm, Security Council members will discuss the situation in Sudan under “any other business” following the discussion on the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in closed consultations. The UK (the penholder on the file) and Denmark, supported by the A3 members (the Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC], Liberia, and Somalia), requested the meeting after a 20 March strike on a hospital in East Darfur state reportedly killed around 70 people. Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA-DPO) Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher are expected to brief. The UK may propose press elements on the meeting.
Nearly three years into the war, which started on 15 April 2023, Sudan has been experiencing a devastating humanitarian crisis, including significant civilian casualties, mass displacement, and acute food shortages. The crisis has been marked by a collapse of healthcare and essential services and grave violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), including widespread conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). The conflict has entered a dangerous phase marked by intensified hostilities with increasing use of sophisticated weaponry and shifting front lines across multiple regions. It increasingly resembles a war of attrition, with external actors reportedly providing support to the parties and arms continuing to flow from multiple sources, resulting in regional spillover and proxy dynamics.
The conflict has also been marked by frequent attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including healthcare facilities, as well as humanitarian assets, personnel, and convoys. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), since April 2023, 2,036 people have been killed in 213 attacks on healthcare facilities.
On 20 March, air and drone strikes hit El Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur state, reportedly killing around 70 people, including women and more than a dozen children. At least 89 others were injured, including eight health workers, and one doctor was killed. The attack occurred in an area under Rapid Support Forces (RSF) control. The RSF blamed the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for the strike. Although the army denied responsibility for the attack, reports citing SAF officials said that the intended target was a nearby police station. Reports also indicate that the health facility was severely damaged and rendered inoperable, with over two million people in El Daein (the state capital) and nine other districts in East Darfur left without access to a key referral hospital.
In a 24 March statement, Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the killing of civilians in the El Daein attack and demanded that all parties comply with their obligations under IHL, including the protection of medical personnel and facilities and the prohibition of attacks against civilians and civilian objects. He also called for an immediate de-escalation of hostilities and urged the parties to work with mediators to return to negotiations aimed at achieving a lasting ceasefire and an inclusive, Sudanese-owned political process. Speakers are likely to reiterate these messages at today’s meeting.
The 20 March attack occurred against the backdrop of intensified armed drone activity across Sudan. In a 24 March press release, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned of a sharp increase this year in the use of drones to conduct airstrikes in the country, highlighting the devastating impact of relatively inexpensive, high-tech weapons in populated areas. It documented over 500 civilian deaths in such strikes between 1 January and 15 March, the majority of which occurred in the Kordofan region.
The press release also highlighted that expanding drone attacks are spilling across Sudan’s borders, raising concerns about further escalation with regional implications. It referred to incidents affecting the border towns of Tina in Sudan and Tiné in Chad following RSF ground offensives. On 16 March, around 20 people, including civilians, were reportedly killed and 60 others injured during an RSF ground offensive on Tina. On 18 March, a drone strike in Tiné reportedly launched from Sudan killed at least 24 civilians and injured around 70 others. Chad closed its border with Sudan in late February following fighting in Tiné between the RSF and pro-SAF fighters that resulted in the deaths of five Chadian soldiers. Following the recent cross-border strike in Tiné, Chadian authorities reportedly reinforced security along the border with Sudan and began the emergency relocation of refugees from border areas.
At today’s meeting, Fletcher might expand on the humanitarian consequences of the ongoing violence in the country, including attacks on civilian infrastructure. He is expected to highlight how these attacks are impeding humanitarian operations led by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and its partners. He and several Council members are likely to reiterate calls for the cessation of hostilities and express support for efforts to achieve a humanitarian truce. They may also raise broader protection concerns and emphasise the imperative of ensuring accountability for such acts. Some members may also underline the need for a Council response amid the spiralling security and humanitarian situation.
Regional and international diplomatic efforts on both the humanitarian and political fronts have continued; however, a significant breakthrough remains elusive. Pekka Haavisto of Finland, who assumed his role as the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan in late February, visited Port Sudan and Khartoum earlier this week. During the visit, he met with, among others, the SAF leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the finance minister and leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) faction Jibril Ibrahim. In a statement released yesterday (25 March), Haavisto underscored the importance of dialogue and de-escalation as essential steps towards a comprehensive ceasefire, as well as stressed the need to advance civilian protection and to explore confidence-building measures to create conditions for a meaningful political process. Haavisto further indicated that he would continue consultations in the coming weeks with a broad range of stakeholders across the region.
The US has been leading efforts, in coordination with the other Quad members—Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia—to facilitate a humanitarian truce. In his remarks at the 19 February Council meeting on the situation in Sudan, US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos called for an immediate humanitarian truce, without preconditions, which he argued must guarantee sustained and unhindered humanitarian access across conflict lines and borders. He also noted that the US has been working with the Secretary-General’s office, DPPA, OCHA, and other UN entities to establish a UN mechanism to support implementation, coordination, and oversight of the truce and related humanitarian access commitments.
The US has apparently shared a working draft of the proposed truce declaration and its modalities among some member states; however, progress appears to have stalled in recent weeks amid increasingly entrenched positions by the warring parties. Nevertheless, Boulos has continued his engagement with relevant stakeholders, including Quad members, to advance the initiative. Earlier today, he held a breakfast briefing for Council members at the US Permanent Mission to the UN, where he apparently briefed them on ongoing efforts.
In parallel, international interlocutors have been using additional tools to exert pressure on the parties. On 19 February, the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned three RSF commanders for their involvement in atrocities in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state. The UK and the European Union (EU) have also previously designated these same individuals. On 24 March, the 1591 Sudan Sanctions Committee also designated four RSF commanders, including the group’s deputy commander Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo. On 9 March, the US Department of State designated the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and a Foreign Terrorist Organization. It argued that the group uses violence against civilians to undermine conflict resolution efforts and advance its “violent Islamist ideology”, claiming that the group’s fighters have conducted “mass executions of civilians” and have received support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
