International Advisory Committee on the Sudan: Joint statement

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE (IAC) ON THE SUDAN
Meeting at Palais des Nations, Geneva
14 December 2001

Joint Statement

The International Advisory Committee (IAC) on the Sudan met at the Palais Des Nations in Geneva on 14 December 2001, convened by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA). The UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs for the Sudan Ambassador Tom Eric Vraalsen participated in the meeting along with senior humanitarian assistance officials from Donor countries (20), UN agencies, international organisations, and non-governmental organisations.

The meeting underscored the fundamental importance of the achievement of a just and lasting peace for the resolution of the humanitarian crisis in the Sudan and encouraged the warring parties to intensify their efforts towards this objective with appropriate support from the international community.

The purpose of the meeting was to examine ways of improving UN/Donor coordination, to identify joint approaches to humanitarian assistance programming, and to develop the IAC into a more effective instrument for the support of the humanitarian assistance programme in the Sudan including Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), and a forum for the discussion of issues affecting the programme.

The Chairman noted that the IAC could play a constructive role in supporting the deliberations of the Technical Committee on Humanitarian Assistance (TCHA), the membership of which comprised the Government of the Sudan (GOS), the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), and the United Nations.

The meeting emphasised the importance of achieving a programme in the Sudan which has the capacity to deliver emergency relief to vulnerable and fragile communities, while at the same time promoting life-sustaining activities which will benefit these and other surrounding communities in the longer term.

Participants called upon the GOS, the SPLM and all other parties to conflict in the Sudan to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout the country by ensuring: unimpeded access to all populations in need of humanitarian assistance including cross-line movement of services and personnel; the rights of and protection for beneficiaries including children; the safety and security of humanitarian assistance workers; and the wide promotion of humanitarian principles and human rights among the parties to conflict and their allies.

Following are the main conclusions and recommendations:

Humanitarian Access

1. The meeting issued a strong call to the GOS, the SPLM and other parties to conflict to adhere to the fundamental principle of free and unimpeded access to all those populations in need of assistance, as agreed to at the meeting of the TCHA in December 1999, with particular concern for areas of chronic denial such as western Upper Nile and eastern Equatoria.

2. The UN was encouraged to maintain and build upon the current momentum which has been generated by the recent food relief and other emergency humanitarian assistance activities in the SPLM/A-controlled areas of the Nuba Mountains. The meeting commended the recent initiatives of the United States Government in this regard.

3. The meeting endorsed the concept of regular, monthly Days of Tranquillity as already agreed to by the GOS and SPLM/A, and encouraged all three members of the TCHA (UN, GOS and SPLM/A) to work towards its early implementation, not only for polio surveillance in the first instance but for all humanitarian assistance.

4. The UN was urged to continue its efforts with the parties to conflict and their allies in seeking innovative and cost-effective cross-line movement of supplies, services and personnel and ensuring risk-free delivery of humanitarian relief to beneficiaries in all areas controlled by the parties to conflict. This should include consideration of the concept of zones of peace.

5. It was emphasized that such measures must be considered as interim and cannot replace the achievement of unimpeded and uninterrupted access.

6. The meeting supported the strategic efforts of the UN in seeking to achieve more deliveries of humanitarian relief supplies by surface means including road and river, rather than by air, for reasons of cost-effectiveness; in this respect welcomed the efforts of UNWFP to further explore the possibilities of river (i.e. barge) deliveries of humanitarian assistance by commercial means; and called upon all parties to ensure the security and integrity of such assistance.

Early Warning and Contingency Planning

7. The importance of further developing and maintaining nation-wide as well as regional viable early warning and contingency planning systems was endorsed by the IAC, which also recognised the UN and NGO requirement for appropriate capacities for timely response to emergencies.

8. The meeting emphasized that the primary responsibility for ensuring a timely response to humanitarian emergencies in the Sudan lies with the parties to conflict, and underscored that Donors and implementing agencies need to be responsive in providing adequate and appropriate resources

A Vision for the Future

9. Participants recognised the continuing requirement for life-saving assistance through emergency interventions, including through Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS). They also stressed the importance for capacity-building and self-reliance of supporting longer-term activities in agriculture, fisheries, animal husbandry, health, water and sanitation, and education, as well as peace-building efforts at grass-roots levels.

10. The meeting also pointed to the importance of planning for future rehabilitation and reconstruction of war-affected areas, and welcomed the "Planning for Peace" exercise as initiated by the IGAD Partner Forum, and undertaken by the United Nations.

11. The current efforts of the UN, in consultation with other concerned parties including the GOS, to deal with the multi-faceted problems of internal displacement in the Sudan were noted by the IAC, which urged the GOS to fulfil its primary responsibilities towards IDPs, and the UN to intensify its own efforts including with the promotion of the Guiding Principles.

Safety and Security

12. The meeting noted that the safety and security of humanitarian assistance workers as well as civilian beneficiary populations, was the fundamental responsibility of the warring parties.

13. The meeting reiterated the critical importance of the UN security umbrella for humanitarian assistance operations in the Sudan, including for the safety and security of humanitarian assistance workers and of potential and/or actual beneficiaries.

14. The UN was encouraged to continue with its efforts in the Sudan to challenge the presumption of impunity. The meeting called upon the parties to conflict to bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes against civilians and against humanitarian assistance personnel.

Protection

15. The parties to conflict were urged to adhere to internationally-accepted norms and principles of humanitarian and human rights law, and to refrain from carrying out military operations which target civilians and civilian infrastructure.

16. The meeting called upon the parties to conflict to exercise control over the militia forces that they support and work with (and for which they are therefore responsible), and for those responsible for violations of human rights to be held accountable for their actions.

17. The GOS was strongly urged to intensify its work on the eradication of the abduction of women and children throughout the country, and also to assist persons to return from the LRA.

18. The meeting noted with appreciation the ongoing demobilisation of child soldiers, and urged all parties to conflict to accelerate efforts in this regard and to refrain from further recruitment

19. The UN was encouraged to devote greater attention to devising strategies and priorities for meeting the challenges of protection of vulnerable civilian communities, in particular at field levels.

Resources

20. The meeting recognised the responsibilities of the parties to conflict in respect of the provision of resources to support and sustain the civilian populations in areas under their respective control.

21. The meeting endorsed the strategic approach of the Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the Sudan in seeking to promote an integrated package of life-saving and life-sustaining activities which contribute to peace-building.

22. The meeting underscored the importance of adequate funding, including through the CAP, for both life-saving and life-sustaining activities in nutrition, health, water and sanitation, household food security, education and protection.

23. The donor community was encouraged to allocate funds for security support, in close consultation with each other and with the Office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sudan. The meeting invited UN/OCHA to initiate consultations with representatives of the donor community with the aim of securing the necessary level of donor support early in the new year.

24. It was also recognized that effective coordination led by UN/OCHA Sudan could not be achieved without a satisfactory level of funding.

Palais des Nations, Geneva
14 December 2001