Panafrican News Agency

UNITAMS says first phase of consultation with Sudanese stakeholders concluded

Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) – The United Nations mission in Khartoum on Sunday bragged that the first stage of the UN-facilitated consultations for a political process in the Sudan has been concluded “with inspiring versions" of Sudanese stakeholders on the way forward.

A press statement by the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission Sudan (UNITAMS) has stated that a full month of almost daily sessions with a diverse range of groups has been concluded this week, marking the end of first stage of consultations launched by UNITAMS on January 8.

The statement said the groups included civil society, women’s rights organizations, resistance committees, political parties, young women activists, academics, journalists, youth, persons with disabilities, veterans, diaspora, Juba Peace Agreement signatories, and national experts.

The statement, emailed to PANA by UNITAMS, explained that during the last week, consultations brought Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Volker Perthes and the UNITAMS team together with more than 35 groups.

“The consultations process has been valuable in allowing us to hear a range of perspectives and proposals from the Sudanese people to overcome the current political crisis," the UNITAMS leader Mr Volker was quoted as saying.

The UN statement came less than one day after Sudan’s military leader, Lt.-Gen. Abdul Fatah Al Burhan, issued a statement, saying the UN was not mandated to mediate or come up with initiatives on the current political situation in the Sudan and that its role involved only facilitating the transition process in the Sudan.

Burhan also said the army would step down from the political scene only on the election of a government in the country or if and when a comprehensive national political consensus is reached on the matter.

UNITMAS has meanwhile stressed that its process is an all inclusive and that almost every stakeholder, except the deposed National Congress party and its apparatus, have been engaged in the month-long consultations.

The release said those who took part in the consultations included 35 groups, ranging from the main actors in the uprising that toppled President Omar Bashir, to groups of people with disabilities, nomads and religious sufi among others.

“We were grateful for the commitment and enthusiasm of scores of representatives of groups from across Sudan who came to meet us, engaged constructively and shared their concrete ideas," Perthes added.

The statement said at the conclusion of this first stage of the initiative, UNITAMS intends to produce a summary document in which it will highlight major areas of consensus among various Sudanese stakeholders on contentious matters pertaining to the transition.

-0- PANA MO/VAO 13Feb2022