Note on Sudan: postponement of IGAD Meeting on ceasefire
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) has confirmed the postponement of the meeting of the
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Technical Committee
on Humanitarian Assistance originally scheduled from 5-7 October in Nairobi,
Kenya.
The meeting was to have been chaired
by the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Humanitarian Assistance
for the Sudan, Ambassador Tom Vraalsen, and would have counted with
the participation of representatives of the Government of the Sudan, the
Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army and IGAD. High on the
meeting's agenda was the extension, and possible broadening, of the
humanitarian cease-fire in the Bahr Al Ghazal region that expires in mid-October.
The cease-fire has permitted Operation Lifeline Sudan to intensify
its relief effort in this area, where a humanitarian crisis of immense
proportions was triggered by renewed fighting in late January. OCHA
will continue to work with the parties to re-schedule this meeting and
secure their agreement on a cease-fire extension.