Sierra Leone Statement At The UN Security Council Meeting on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict – IPC Famine Review Committee Report on Sudan

A3 PLUS STATEMENT BY
H.E. DR. MICHAEL IMRAN KANU
AMBASSADOR & PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE

Mr. President,

1. I have the honor to deliver this Statement on behalf of the A3+ members, namely Algeria, Guyana, Somalia, and my own country Sierra Leone.

• We thank the Presidency for scheduling this important meeting at the request of the United Kingdom, Guyana, and Slovenia with support from Denmark and Sierra Leone, to discuss the deeply disturbing report on famine in the Sudan, a direct consequence of the conflict in the country.

• We are grateful to Ms. Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy Division, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Ms. Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), for their helpful briefings on the worsening food insecurity in Sudan.

• We welcome the participation of the Representative of Sudan in today’s meeting.

Mr. President,

• The ongoing conflict in Sudan has raged on for nearly twenty-one months, with devastating impacts on the people of Sudan, especially women and children, who continue to be disproportionately affected. This Council bears the collective responsibility to do everything possible to end the heartbreaking and untold suffering in Sudan.

• The A3+ takes due note of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Report which contains the findings of the Famine Review Committee on Sudan in December 2024, providing important data, and classifies Famine (IPC Phase 5) in at least five areas of Sudan and projects famine in five additional areas between December 2024 and May 2025. The risk of famine in the projected period is further envisaged in seventeen additional areas in Sudan according to the report.

• To put this into a national context, the IPC Report further suggests that Sudan is facing a risk of sliding into a broad famine crisis and a substantial upsurge in acute malnutrition that would potentially impel half of the population                (i.e. 24.6 million people) into an acute food insecurity crisis.

• In this regard, the A3+ agrees that the main cause of this appalling development in Sudan is the brutal armed conflict, which has been characterized by extraordinary mass displacement, a failing economy, the interruption of essential social services, limited humanitarian access, and gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL).

• The Security Council has adopted resolutions demanding the warring parties in Sudan to cease hostilities, pursue a mediated settlement to the conflict and facilitate the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to those in desperate need. These demands have remained largely unheeded.

Mr. President,

1. In this regard, the A3+ wishes to underline the following three points: Firstly, we reiterate the urgent need for political action by all stakeholders with influence to achieve an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Sudan. The cessation of hostilities is the only action that can mitigate the risk of Famine spreading further in Sudan and contain the high levels of acute food insecurity.

1. We accordingly express our unflinching support for the centrality of the mediating role of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General Ramtane Lamamra, in close consultation with the African Union, including representatives from all strands of the Sudanese society, in the pursuit of  a Sudanese-owned and negotiated political solution to the conflict.

1. We welcome the momentum generated by the “Third Consultative Meeting on Enhancing Coordination of Peace Initiatives and Efforts for the Sudan”, which was jointly convened in December 2024 in Nouakchott, Mauritania, through the initiatives of the UNSG Personal Envoy Lamamra and H.E Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, in his  capacity as Chair of the African Union. As underscored by participants during that meeting, we emphasize the pressing need for a ceasefire in Sudan to lay the foundation for  achieving sustainable peace and stability in the country. We urge the warring parties to fully adhere to their commitments under the Jeddah Declaration.

1. Secondly, the A3+ is of the view that a lasting solution to the conflict in Sudan also requires an end to foreign interference and the support provided by external actors to the warring parties. We reiterate our call for the public and firm condemnation of foreign interference in Sudan. It is important that all stakeholders and the international community actively support an agreed peace plan for Sudan.

1. Thirdly, the A3 plus re-echoes its call to the warring parties to ensure immediate and unhindered humanitarian access to all affected areas by the conflict. While welcoming the recent positive measures taken by the Sudanese Government to facilitate humanitarian access, we underline the need to sustain these measures for the benefit of the Sudanese people.

1. We insist on the imperative to uphold the principles of IHL which prohibits the use of starvation of the civilian population as a weapon of choice in warfare.

1. The siege imposed by the RSF on the city of El Fasher, despite a clear decision of this same Council, is a principal contributing factor to the increase of the risk of famine in this region and elsewhere. In this regard, we express deep concern over the continued attacks by the warring parties, particularly the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), against civilian infrastructures and objects.

1. We note that humanitarian organizations have continuously ramped up provision of vital food and nutrition products as well as other essential support across the various camps and communities in Sudan in order to address the increasingly dire situation.  In this regard we call for member States and the international community to increase funding support for the humanitarian response plan for Sudan.

1. In closing, Mr. President, the A3+ firmly believes that the restoration of domestic food production systems and support to livelihoods are extremely essential in providing critical life-sustaining agricultural activities in the country. We call on the Sudanese government and stakeholders to facilitate the resumption of farming activities and food production across the country. Sustainable food supply in Sudan will require more than humanitarian aid, given the need for a comprehensive national agricultural and market plan.

1.  Finally, we stress this Council’s demand to the warring parties to take every necessary measure to ensure the protection of civilians and further agree to cease hostilities and pursue a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

I thank you.