The UAE has welcomed a joint statement calling for a civilian-led government to be established in Sudan.
The recommendation was reached after a three-day conference in Addis Ababa involving Sudanese stakeholders and the governments of the US, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway and the UK.
The African Union, the EU, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the League of Arab States and the UN were also represented at the talks, which were a follow-up to an international ministerial conference on Sudan in Berlin in April.
A statement released on Monday declared that the parties “reaffirm their shared and unwavering commitment to the people of Sudan and to a peaceful, democratic, and stable future for the country, as well as to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Sudan”.
The UAE affirmed its “full support for all efforts aimed at achieving a humanitarian truce and a permanent ceasefire, and putting an end to human suffering, in a way that ensures the protection of civilians and the delivery of humanitarian aid”, state news agency Wam reported.
The importance of prioritising political solutions and supporting a comprehensive and independent transition to civilian government that reflects the aspirations of the Sudanese people for security, stability and decent lives was also highlighted by the UAE.
The signatories to the statement expressed “deep concern” over the devastating humanitarian consequences of the civil war in Sudan, where millions face displacement, acute food insecurity and limited access to basic services, and attacks on civilians continue.
Massad Boulos, US senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, said that “advancing a civilian-led political track is a critical element of achieving durable peace”.
“This statement builds on the important outcomes of the Berlin conference on Sudan in April, which brought together numerous countries and organisations … and secured $1.5 billion in humanitarian support,” wrote Mr Boulos in a post on X.
The Berlin conference, held on the third anniversary of the start of the civil war, included, for the first time, a structured civilian forum involving Sudanese groups.
A coup in 2021 that toppled a civilian-led transitional government was followed by the outbreak of civil war in 2023.
Since then, about 14 million people have been displaced, nine million of them within Sudan and 4.4 million across borders, according to a recent UN report. Tens of thousands have been killed. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) has tracked more than 58,000 reported deaths since the war began, but the actual number is believed to be much higher.
Last month, Pekka Haavisto, the UN Secretary General’s personal envoy to Sudan, said the time had come to move from military rule to civilian government.
Sudan’s army chief, Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, also said in May that the country’s military-aligned government intended to convene a “comprehensive political dialogue” to lay down the foundations for a new “political structure” in the war-torn nation.
