Sudan (Darfur)

While the closure of the African Union-United Nations hybrid operation in Darfur is set for late this year, the size and scale of the follow-on mission for Sudan requested by the new Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has been the topic of significant debate. Questions of whether or how much any new UN special political mission in Sudan should be involved with tasks associated with “protection of civilians” has been a particularly controversial point.

The peacekeeping transition of the African Union (AU) and United Nations hybrid operation (UNAMID) in Darfur remains one of the UN system’s most complex undertakings ever. After nearly one year of uncertainty, the UN Security Council intended to adopt a groundbreaking decision at the end of March on the future of UN engagement in Sudan. However, Council members delayed the decision until May 31 in light of the novel coronavirus pandemic. … Council members now have a brief period of time to address difficult political questions about what comes after UNAMID, and by extension, how they will shape international support for Sudan’s political transition.

The United Nations Security Council decided that the African Union-United Nations Mission Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) shall maintain its current troop and police ceilings until 31 May 2020, and further decided that during this period UNAMID shall maintain all team sites for mandate implementation.

Talks on the security arrangements between the Sudanese government and armed groups in Darfur begin on Wednesday, said the South Sudanese mediation spokesman Dhieu Matouk. The government and the armed groups agreed to conclude negotiations with the security arrangements as saying it would become a technical issue after political accords.

Talks on the security arrangements between the Sudanese government and armed groups in Darfur begin on Wednesday, said the South Sudanese mediation spokesman Dhieu Matouk. … The discussions are scheduled to continue for ten days.

The country is witnessing a debate over how to best hold the ousted leader accountable for alleged crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The armed groups in Darfur say they still have a set of issues in the power-sharing chapter that need to be agreed with the government dashing hopes of a peace deal ending the stalled peace talks in Juba next week.

Sudan’s leading member of the Transitional Sovereign Council Mohamed Hamdan Daglo "Hemetti" complained of his marginalization by Hamdok government and called for code of conduct to enhance confidence with the ruling coalition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC).

The transitional government reached an agreement with the families of U.S. sailors killed in the al Qaeda bombing of the destroyer USS Cole, within the framework of the ongoing process to remove Sudan from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST).