Humanitarian gains as peace hopes rise

In this special report IRIN outlines major developments in the peace process during 2003, and looks forward to future talks. A previous web special, published in January, describes in detail the important humanitarian issues surrounding the talks and gives background on the key areas of negotiation. For the first time in 20 years, lasting peace in Sudan could be within reach. A year of phased peace talks under the watchful gaze of the international community has led to substantive progress on some key issues, and a final accord could, if progress continues, be no more than several weeks away. Such negotiating advances have already borne fruit for humanitarian actors on the ground as well as for the Sudanese people. Most notably, greatly improved security conditions arising from negotiations led in May to the UN system being able to operate the first cross-line delivery of food assistance by barge along the Juba-Malakal river corridor. In March, following separate bilateral agreements made by the UN system with the Sudanese government and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) it became possible to deliver aid for the first time ever to Southern Blue Nile, an area which falls outside the traditional mandate of the Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) Agreement, first established in 1989. As an additional sign of the growing will to tackle long-outstanding humanitarian issues, the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A have also agreed to set up a Humanitarian Coordination Working Group, facilitated by the UN, to address access and other operational constraints on an ongoing basis, the Office of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator reported in its Sudan Assistance Bulletin in May. These and other important gains add up to a general, incremental improvement in access and security conditions for aid agencies, and their ability to provide assistance to people in need across Sudan. The key breakthrough on the humanitarian front had come in October 2002 when both the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which they agreed, among other things, to allow “unimpeded humanitarian access to all areas and for people in need, in accordance with the Operation Lifeline Sudan Agreement.” The MOU also opened the door to the resumption of peace talks that, at that time, were stalled. Crucially, it included an agreement to implement a cessation of hostilities for the duration of talks, paving the way for further agreement on humanitarian access such as the resumed barge operations.

Women in Akuem, Bahr al-Ghazal, benefit from a recent food distribution.

OBSTACLES However, some obstacles will still need to be overcome before the negotiating parties, the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A, begin to implement a six-and-a-half year transition arrangement that, as the current provisional agreement stands, would follow the signing of a final accord. After last year's breakthroughs made at the peace talks in the Kenyan town of Machakos, recent phases of the peace process have dealt with issues such as the equitable sharing of wealth and power in a peaceful Sudan, and the administrative details of the transition period. The Machakos Protocol, which the parties signed in July 2002, included a provision allowing for a referendum on self-determination for the south and addressed the issue of state and religion, with the SPLM/A accepting the principle of a religion-based administration in the north. According to Cirino Hiteng, a lecturer of international studies at the United States International University (USIU) in Kenya, the talks, facilitated by the regional Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have reached a "very difficult" stage. HOLISTIC APPROACH At the fifth session of the talks, which adjourned on 21 May 2003, chief mediator Lazarus Sumbeiywo introduced the parties to the "holistic approach", as a means of placing all outstanding issues on the same agenda in order to accelerate the negotiating process. Previously, sessions dealt with issues individually. "When you are a driver, you will not be good enough if you continue driving in the same gear from start to finish. Otherwise, it will be monotonous," Sumbeiywo told IRIN recently. “The holistic approach is about looking at everything in totality,” he added. Muhammad Ahmad Dirdeiry, the Sudanese embassy spokesman in Nairobi, argues that the "holistic approach" is the best way to clear up all the outstanding issues in the process and help the parties move towards full agreement. "We have made a proposal based on the holistic approach on all the controversial issues,” Dirdeiry told IRIN. “We are now at least sure of our position. We have been told by the mediators that our positions are very encouraging and forthcoming. "We feel that that is encouraging for us and it indicates to us that we have grasped the mood and taken advantage of the opportunity given to us." Justice Africa, a London-based human rights organisation, said the "holistic approach" was a necessary means of pressing the talks towards a conclusion, but only if it incorporated "additional elements" such as greater transparency, taking into account the needs of the Sudanese people. Hiteng is concerned by the possibility of a deal being struck without the explicit approval of the Sudanese people to whom, he says, the negotiating parties are ultimately accountable. "[SPLM/A leader John] Garang and [Sudanese President Umar Hassan] al-Bashir have no right to trade off without consulting their constituents,” Hiteng argues. Continued Sudan peace process web special IGAD IRIN interview with Lazarus Sumbeiywo Sudan Peace Act Chronology of key events