The Humanitarian Aid Commission of the Sudanese government has announced a ‘tripartite agreement’ between the government, UN and local community to deliver aid in South Kordofan.
Humanitarian Aid Commissioner in South Kordofan State Haroun Mohamed Abdullah announced that the commission made a needs assessment of the affected population in the state.
A tripartite agreement was signed between the government, UN and local community in South Kordofan State to provide humanitarian services to the needy people besides contributing in rebuilding social fabric in the state, he said. The essential services include water and health services as well as agricultural initiatives.
For his part, Abu Karshola Locality Commissioner Ghorak Kambal told the state-run Sudanese Media Center the locality administration and native administration are setting arrangements to hold a reconciliation conference to rebuild social fabric.
Kambal called on the charitable organizations and activists to participate in addressing the humanitarian situation in South Kordofan.
Government oversight of aid efforts in territories under its control are typically carried out by the Humanitarian Aid Commission, which works closely with the security service. The relief agencies that work from government-held towns do not have access into parts of the Nuba Mountains controlled by SPLM-N.
Announcements on the new aid intiative came shortly before the opening of talks with SPLM-N in Addis Ababa. The opposition group wanted to make humanitarian access the first key agenda of the negotiations but the government declined saying the whole political picture should be discussed.
Sudanese Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Gandour was recently quoted as affirming the government’s willingness to sit down with SPLM-N to find a solution to the conflict in the states Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
“We will sit at the negotiating table with whoever stands behind the banner of the SPLM-N, provided he is there to engage in dialogue with us in accordance with the UN resolution 2046 and the decisions of the African Union Peace and Security Council,” Gandour said.
“As long as Yassir Arman represents the SPLA-N according to what is agreed upon, we have no objection, we don’t care about personalities, what matters to us is the commitment of the other party to peace in order stop the war,” he added.
Last Friday the SPLM-N released the names of its negotiating delegation in Addis Ababa, where talks are scheduled to take place on 13 February. The rebel negotiating team is chaired by Yasir Arman and includes also seven representatives from Darfur rebel groups, opposition parties and civil society.
File photo: Kadugli town, capital of South Kordofan State