The UN's most powerful body strongly condemned all attacks on civilians since fighting between rival generals vying for power broke out in mid-April and called for "rapid, safe and unhindered access throughout Sudan" to help millions in need.
The fighting has killed at least 866 civilians and wounded thousands more, according to the Sudanese Doctors' Syndicate which tracks civilian casualties. More than 1.3 million people have fled their homes to try to escape the violence, with over a million still in the country and 320,000 in neighbouring Egypt, South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic, according to the UN's International Organisation for Migration.
The council voted unanimously to extend the UN political mission in Sudan for six months, instead of a year, to give members time to see what happens on the ground and consider its future.
The Security Council underlined the need "for strengthened international coordination and continued collabouration" and reaffirmed "their firm support for African leadership," noting the African Union's six-point roadmap to resolve the conflict as well as efforts by the Arab League and the regional group IGAD.
Gabon's UN Ambassador Michel Biang told the council that the security situation in Sudan continues to worsen.
"The country is at a critical stage of its history with a heightened risk of civil war if the conflict continues," he warned, speaking on behalf of the two other African members on the council, Ghana and Mozambique, as well. "And there is, if that occurs, a grave risk of serious consequences being visited upon all countries in the region."
Biang stressed that the presence of the UN mission "is now more important than ever before to coordinate the UN's response to the complex challenges plaguing the country."
On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres asked to brief the council behind closed doors for only the fifth time since he took office in January 2017 about the impact of the ongoing conflict on the UN mission known as UNITAMS. It was established by the council on June 3, 2020, to provide support to Sudan during its political transition to democratic rule.
Following the ousting of Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir in 2019, Sudan embarked on a shaky democratic transition led by civilian and army leaders. But the generals seized complete power in a coup in October 2021, before turning against each other.
A week ago, one of the rival leaders, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan demanded the UN special envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, be removed, accusing him of "being partisan."
After Wednesday's meeting, Guterres said he reaffirmed to the council "my full confidence in Volker Perthes."
Late Thursday, the United States and Saudi Arabia announced that they were suspending peace talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah "as a result of repeated serious violations of the short-term ceasefire and recent ceasefire extension" .
9°C