The United Kingdom has urged the parties to Sudan’s conflict to protect civilians, allow humanitarian assistance to reach those in need and choose diplomacy over continued war. UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Kate Foster made the call at a UN Security Council meeting on Sudan.
Foster said this month marks one year since El Fasher fell to the Rapid Support Forces. The UN Fact-Finding Mission has documented systematic starvation, torture, killings, rape and deliberate ethnic targeting. Civilians were killed while fleeing the besieged city, and patients and staff were killed in hospitals; women and girls were disproportionately affected.
Recent drone strikes and other aerial attacks, including in the Kordofans, show the conflict’s growing reach and lethality, Foster said. Civilians are being killed and injured, while markets, agricultural production and other essential infrastructure are being destroyed. This week, the IPC warned of increasing famine risk in Darfur and the Kordofans. More than 33 million people need humanitarian assistance.
Foster called on the parties to comply with international humanitarian law and facilitate safe and unhindered humanitarian access. She also urged them to implement their Jeddah commitments, including distinguishing between civilians and military targets and taking all feasible precautions to protect civilians.
The UK said external support sustaining the conflict must end. The advancing drone capabilities, Foster said, are procured, financed, transferred and sustained through networks outside Sudan. The UK supports strengthening the Security Council’s Sudan sanctions regime and called for the swift transmission to the Council and publication of the 1591 Panel of Experts’ final report.
The UK called on the parties to agree to a humanitarian truce, a permanent ceasefire and an inclusive, civilian-led political process. Foster welcomed efforts by the Quad and Quintet, as well as the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy’s work on confidence-building measures. She said the UK looked forward to further progress at consultations in Geneva next week.
On proposals for a national dialogue, Foster said any credible process must be genuinely inclusive, Sudanese-led and give civilians a meaningful voice. She added that the devastation in Sudan is driving regional instability, as crises across the Horn of Africa become increasingly interconnected.
