Dr Suleiman Baldo: Quartet peace plan first serious attempt to stop Sudan war

Dr Suleiman Baldo, Executive Director of the Sudanese Observatory for Transparency and Policy, said that the peace plan pushed by the Quartet is the first serious attempt to stop the fighting in Sudan and restore calm and stability to civilians.

Musaad Boulos, Advisor to the US President for Arab and African Affairs, announced yesterday during the humanitarian conference that the Quartet has agreed on a peace plan in Sudan, which will be escalated to the UN Security Council after it is adopted by the Quartet and the parties to the conflict. He stressed that the comprehensive peace plan includes humanitarian tools to protect civilians and their safe return, and a permanent ceasefire. He also pointed to the establishment of a mechanism by the United Nations for the withdrawal of fighters from both sides of the conflict from some areas, allowing the flow of humanitarian aid. He expressed his hope in reaching an agreement on a humanitarian truce in Sudan in the coming weeks.

Agreement in principle

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Dr Suleiman Baldo said that there is a preliminary agreement with representatives of the army and the Rapid Support Forces on the peace plan, which was reached through indirect and unannounced negotiations.

Baldo expected that the peace plan would be signed by the leaders of the army, the Rapid Support and the Quartet, in preparation for its submission to the UN Security Council.

Challenges

On the challenges that could face the plan, Baldo expected it to come under pressure from parties seeking a military solution, which he described as impossible. He added that the peace plan could lead to tensions in the army’s relationship with the Islamist movement, which insists on continuing the fight until a complete victory is achieved. The use of drones and military technology by both sides has exacerbated the scale of the destruction and the number of civilian casualties, he said. International interventions seek to achieve their own interests at the expense of the suffering of the Sudanese people, which could increase the killing and destruction, he said.

The five pillars of the peace plan

Baldo quoted diplomatic sources as saying that the plan consists of five axes: the humanitarian aspect, the protection of civilians and their return, a permanent ceasefire, the political process, and an international conference for reconstruction.

The humanitarian aspect includes the withdrawal of military forces from the two sides’ sensitive areas, the entry of urgent aid, the lifting of the siege, the passage of food and fuel, the opening of trade lines, and the restoration of stability to the movement of civilians and meeting their basic needs, he said.

He explained that the axis of protection and return of civilians includes the voluntary return of displaced persons and refugees to their areas of origin, under the supervision and guarantees of the United Nations, and the provision of protection to civilians returning or who remained in areas of displacement, and responding to their humanitarian needs.

He pointed out that the permanent ceasefire comes after the stabilisation of the situation and the implementation of the humanitarian truce, stressing that the cessation of fighting does not mean achieving peace, but rather represents a step before reaching it.

The fourth pillar is the political process, which includes negotiations to reach a Sudanese civilian government that will lead the post-war phase, while ensuring that future political arrangements are not dominated by any military actors.

Baldo said that the fifth axis is to hold an international conference for reconstruction, after the implementation of the previous steps, provided that the conference works to mobilise contributions for the reconstruction of Sudan, develop an urgent UN plan, and urge the supporting countries to fund it.

The absent and necessary role of civil forces

Baldo pointed out that the civil forces are absent from the current roadmap, stressing the need to represent them in all stages of the plan, and not only in the political process.

He stressed the importance of the participation of civil forces in the humanitarian aspect, given their vital role on the ground in providing assistance to war victims, displaced persons and refugees through “Takaya”, emergency rooms and volunteers, calling for the recognition of these national forces as workers in the field of international relief, and the provision of international protection and guarantees to them.

He also stressed the need for the presence of civil forces to monitor the return of citizens, and to guarantee freedom of expression and organisation for civil society organisations to contribute to reconstruction and stability.

“Civilian forces should demand the restoration of civilian state institutions, such as the Ministry of Education and the civilian police, and the unification of the civil service across Sudan and conflict zones, to prevent a de facto separation between the RSF’s spheres of influence and the areas under the control of the army,” he added.

He called on the civil forces to remind the mediators and parties to the war that their first and last commitment should be towards the Sudanese citizen, not to achieve their own goals by continuing the fighting.

Baldo expressed his hope that the plan will be implemented until the war ends and the actual end of the tragedy begins, stressing that it is not possible to achieve a military victory in the ongoing war, pointing out that the drone war has caused deadly effects on civilians and military personnel, and will not stop in light of the continued external intervention.