Joint Statement by the Ad Hoc Donors Group on Sudan

October 4, 2002
Geneva, Switzerland

The United States, the European Union and its Member States, Norway, Canada, Switzerland and Japan express serious concern about the humanitarian situation in Sudan, in particular the current ban on humanitarian operations imposed by the Government of Sudan on 27 September. We underscore the negative impact the ban is having on the war-affected population in Sudan. The UN estimates that at least 500,000 Sudanese citizens will not receive urgently-needed aid as a result. Furthermore, the situation leaves some 400 humanitarian workers stranded and isolated in zones of conflict in southern Sudan. The flight ban is preventing the UN from evacuating these workers, including in cases of medical emergencies.

We again strongly urge all parties to urgently allow full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all civilians in need of protection and assistance as embodied in the 1999 Beneficiary Protocol of Operation Lifeline Sudan. We express our disappointment with the Government of Sudan's return to denying flight clearance for Operation Lifeline Sudan to areas of critical humanitarian need.

We call upon the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement to return to the negotiating table. The Machakos peace talks have been promising and represent a genuine opportunity to bring about a just and lasting peace for the people of Sudan.