Security Council Calls for “Immediate Cessation of Hostilities” in Sudan During Ramadan

As the violence in the war-torn country continues unabated, the Council’s members also called for all parties to enable safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the Sudanese people, who are suffering from acute food insecurity.

8 March, NEW YORK — This afternoon, the Security Council passed a resolution on Sudan tabled by the United Kingdom by a vote of 14 in favour, 0 against, with 1 abstention. By the terms of the text, the Council called for “an immediate cessation of hostilities during the month of Ramadan, and for all parties to the conflict to seek a sustainable resolution to the conflict through dialogue.”

The resolution follows on the heels of the Council’s 7 March meeting on the situation in Sudan, in which Secretary-General António Guterres noted that April would mark one year since the outbreak of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The conflict had taken a toll on the Sudanese people and now risked igniting “regional instability of dramatic proportions,” he said, going on to underscore that “it is time to silence the guns and raise the volume for peace.

In his remarks, the Secretary-General called on all parties in Sudan to “honour the values of Ramadan” by observing a cessation of hostilities. The humanitarian crisis was reaching “colossal proportions,” Guterres continued, and half the population needed life-saving assistance. Over 14,000 people had been killed, and Sudan was now facing the world’s largest internal-displacement crisis, with some 6.3 million Sudanese impacted. The conflict had also brought basic services to a standstill, he said, warning that “hunger is stalking Sudan.”

In the resolution, the Council members expressed their grave concern over the violence in Sudan, as well as the deteriorating humanitarian situation. It also expressed further concern over reports of violations of international humanitarian law, as well as violations of human rights law.

While welcoming the Sudanese authorities’ decision to facilitate humanitarian access through the Tina and Renk border crossings, it called on all parties to enable unhindered humanitarian access, and “comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, including to protect civilians and civilian objects.”

The resolution also encouraged the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Sudan Ramtane Lamamra to “use his good offices with the parties and the neighbouring States, complementing and coordinating regional peace efforts.”

Sudan is facing the deadly consequences of fighting that broke out on 15 April, 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group. Since that date, the RSF has taken control of most of Darfur and western Kordofan, as well as swaths of Khartoum and Omdurman. The World Food Programme has cautioned that 18 million people are facing acute food insecurity in Sudan. The violence has resulted in dire consequences for human rights and humanitarian effects.

The International Organization for Migration notes that about 10.7 million people are now displaced by conflicts in Sudan, with 9 million inside the country, making Sudan the largest internal displacement crisis globally. It further notes that about 3.5 million people have been displaced from Khartoum since mid-April 2023.

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