UN Calls for Immediate Cease-fire in Sudan and Path to Renewed Democratic Transition Talks

Sudanese army soldiers rest next to a building in Khartoum on May 25, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese army soldiers rest next to a building in Khartoum on May 25, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
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UN Calls for Immediate Cease-fire in Sudan and Path to Renewed Democratic Transition Talks

Sudanese army soldiers rest next to a building in Khartoum on May 25, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese army soldiers rest next to a building in Khartoum on May 25, 2023. (Photo by AFP)

The UN Security Council called Friday for an immediate cease-fire in Sudan to be followed by a permanent halt to hostilities and fresh efforts to reach a lasting democratic political settlement in the conflict-wracked country.

The UN’s most powerful body strongly condemned all attacks on civilians since fighting between rival generals vying for power broke out in mid-April and called for “rapid, safe and unhindered access throughout Sudan” to help millions in need.

The fighting has killed at least 866 civilians and wounded thousands more, according to the Sudanese Doctors’ Syndicate which tracks civilian casualties. And more than 1.3 million people have fled their homes to try to escape the violence, with over a million still in the country and 320,000 in neighboring Egypt, South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration.

The press statement from the council was issued before the council voted unanimously to extend the UN political mission in Sudan for six months, instead of a year, to give members time to see what happens on the ground and consider its future.

United Arab Emirates Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, the current council president, called it “very positive” that all members not only voted to extend the UN mission but united behind a “very substantive” statement “that lays out the council’s expectations of what should happen next in Sudan -- and that is clearly an immediate and permanent cease-fire arrangement.”

The Security Council underlined the need “for strengthened international coordination and continued collaboration” and reaffirmed “their firm support for African leadership,” noting the African Union’s six-point roadmap to resolve the conflict as well as efforts by the Arab League and the regional group IGAD.

Gabon’s UN Ambassador Michel Biang told the council after the vote that the security situation in Sudan continues to worsen.

“The country is at a critical stage of its history with a heightened risk of civil war if the conflict continues,” he warned, speaking on behalf of the two other African members on the council, Ghana and Mozambique, as well. “And there is, if that occurs, a grave risk of serious consequences being visited upon all countries in the region.”

Biang stressed that the presence of the UN mission “is now more important than ever before to coordinate the UN’s response to the complex challenges plaguing the country.”

On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres asked to brief the council behind closed doors for only the fifth time since he took office in January 2017 about the impact of the ongoing conflict on the UN mission known as UNITAMS. It was established by the council on June 3, 2020, to provide support to Sudan during its political transition to democratic rule.

In a brief statement to reporters after the meeting, the UN chief said he told the 15 council members it’s up to them to decide whether to continue the political mission to Sudan or whether “it’s time to end it.”

Following the ouster of Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir in 2019, Sudan embarked on a shaky democratic transition led by civilian and army leaders. But the generals seized complete power in a coup in October 2021, before turning against each other.

Sudanese leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, agreed to restore the transition but clashed over the terms of the RSF’s merger into the army, a disagreement that exploded into open conflict on April 15.

A week ago, Burhan demanded in a letter to Guterres that the UN special envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, be removed, saying his approach in pre-war talks between the generals helped inflame the conflict and accusing him of “being partisan.” The UN chief was “shocked” by the letter.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Guterres said he reaffirmed to the council “my full confidence in Volker Perthes.”



Red Cross: Gaza Humanitarian Work on 'Verge of Total Collapse'

People look for survivors in the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 2, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
People look for survivors in the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 2, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
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Red Cross: Gaza Humanitarian Work on 'Verge of Total Collapse'

People look for survivors in the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 2, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
People look for survivors in the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 2, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

The Red Cross warned Friday that the humanitarian response in Gaza was on the "verge of total collapse" after two months of Israel blocking aid to the war-torn Palestinian territory.

"Without an immediate resumption of aid deliveries, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will not have access to the food, medicines, and life-saving supplies needed to sustain many of its programs in Gaza," AFP quoted it as saying in a statement.

Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, days before the collapse of a ceasefire that had significantly reduced hostilities after 15 months of war.

Since the start of the blockade, the United Nations has repeatedly warned of the humanitarian catastrophe on the ground, with famine again looming.

"Civilians in Gaza are facing an overwhelming daily struggle to survive the dangers of hostilities, cope with relentless displacement, and endure the consequences of being deprived of urgent humanitarian assistance," Pascal Hundt, ICRC Deputy Director of Operations said in Friday's statement.

"This situation must not —- and cannot -— be allowed to escalate further."

ICRC stressed that under international humanitarian law, "Israel has an obligation to use all means available to ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population under its control are met".

"If the blockage continues, programs such as the ICRC common kitchens — which often provide the only meal people receive each day — will only be able to operate for a few more weeks," it warned.

The UN's World Food Program (WFP) said a week ago that it had sent out its "last remaining food stocks" to kitchens.

ICRC cautioned that the field hospital it runs in Gaza was also "running dangerously low on food and medical supplies, with some essential medicines and consumables already exhausted".

"Disruption to water systems, including the closure of water pipelines and destruction of critical sewage trucks, has created an unacceptably high risk of waterborne diseases," it said.

This dire situation was compounded by repeated attacks impacting the work of healthcare facilities and personnel, ICRC said.