By Bida Elly David
Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) is set to conduct a summit on Sudan, this month, aimed at quelling the situation through dialogue among the rivaling parties.
“The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) will next week convene a high-level meeting on the situation in Sudan,” reads a part of the statement posted on the official Facebook page of President.
Nearly two thousand people have been killed and over five thousand others wounded, since war sparked out in Sudan’s capital Khartoum before spreading to other areas, according to a diplomatic source.
The fighting in Sudan has continued, even extending to several parts of the country, with both parties showing no sign of retreat.
Last week, James Morgan, South Sudan’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and the Country’s envoy to the IGAD briefed President Salva Kiir who was tasked to lead a team of negotiators on the Sudan Conflict.
Ambassador Morgan underscored that the summit will be held on the 12th –June-2023 in Djibouti in a bid to discuss solutions to the current war in the Sudan despite the Jeddah peace talks in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, the ambassador did not clarify whether the summit will constitute the attendance of all IGAD member states or only the sub mediation –committee headed by President Salva Kiir.
The warring parties to the conflict in Sudan have severally violated the ceasefire signed including the Jeddah talks which were believed to have generated hopes of reconciliation between the rivals.
Despite the calls made by the American and Saudi Arabian governments, the two unforgiving combatants turned off their ears to the teams.
The Sudanese army last week suspended its participation in the talks over claims that the RSF does not respect the terms of the deal as they have not withdrawn from civilians’ homes and hospitals.
Sudan plunged into a deadly conflict on April 15 after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched attacks on several government and army positions including the residence of the country’s military leader General Abdelfattah al Burhan.
The conflict has resulted in the killing and displacement of a big number of civilians with calls from the international and regional communities for the parties to stop fighting.
However, Edmund Yakani, Executive Director for Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) said that IGAD should style up since their first decision to quell the Sudan crisis failed.
He said that the recent mediation team headed by President Kiir and his Counterparts the president of Kenya and Djibouti did not bring any positive changes to Sudan.
“We have seen that the decision made by the IGAD heads of state has not work effectively simply because the political consensus and the financial support to the three members tasked to resolve Sudan crisis was very weak and not effective,” he noted.
He said that the summit which is soon kicking off should discuss amicable solutions to push Sudan from the ongoing bloodshed through free and bold acceptance of dialogue between the warring principals.