Government pledges to support OLS

Earlier on Thursday, the official Suna news agency of Sudan published a joint statement by Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma’il and the UN special envoy, Tom Eric Vraalsen, in which Khartoum pledged its commitment to Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS). The joint statement said Vraalsen “noted with appreciation the reassurance of the government of the Sudan in respect of the safety and security of UN staff and facilities, and the government’s affirmation of its primary responsibilities in ensuring the safest possible operational environment for humanitarian assistance personnel, including requisite radio communications facilities.”

During his visit, it said Vraalsen had met with First Vice-President Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha, the ministers of external relations, social planning, and information and culture, the state minister of social planning, and the president’s adviser for peace.

“The special envoy welcomed the reaffirmation from the government of the Sudan of the importance it attaches to the aims and objectives of Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), and its support through this humanitarian assistance programme to the protection of the people of the Sudan suffering from the ravages of war and instability,” the joint statement said. “The special envoy welcomed in particular the unequivocal commitment of the government to assisting the most vulnerable citizens of the Sudan, whether in government or rebel [Sudan People’s Liberation Movement]-controlled areas, and to working closely with the UN in doing so.”

The statement said Khartoum also emphasised the importance “it attaches to the establishment of a presence” in Lokichokio, northern Kenya, where the OLS programme is based. Vraalsen said the UN had no objections to this proposal, and suggested the government to raise the matter directly with the government of Kenya. “As OLS is a joint operation, the government sees a greater role for the UN to lead this issue,” the statement said. It also said Vraalsen had taken “particular note of the increasingly fragile situation in Unity State, where fighting among rebel groups had led to further displacement of people in large numbers, to areas controlled by the government and elsewhere. It was agreed that a UN assessment mission be facilitated to selected locations in Unity State, to update the findings of a similar mission to the region in March 2000.”

The statement said both parties had “noted the need for an agreed formula, which would combine the safety of delivery mechanisms, including flights, with efficiency, timeliness, and flexibility for response”.

“The government proposed that all relief supplies and services should be delivered from within the Sudan. The special envoy and the government noted that cost-effectiveness should remain a primary consideration in the deliveries of such supplies and services into all areas of the Sudan. Optimum use would continue to be made of road, river and rail corridors, as allowed for under the provisions of the agreements and protocols reached under the auspices of the Technical Committee on Humanitarian Assistance (TCHA), at meetings in Rome (November 1998), Oslo (May 1999), and Geneva (December 1999),” it said.