Your Excellency Chairperson of the African Union Commission; Your Excellency Executive Secretary of the IGAD; Your Excellences Members of the African Union High-Level Panel on the Resolution of the Crisis in Sudan; Your Excellency IGAD Special Envoy for Sudan; Your Excellences Permanent Representatives of Member States of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union; Your Excellences Members of the African Union Expended Mechanism; Your Excellences Members of the Troika on Sudan; Your Excellences Ambassadors and Representatives of African Union Partner Countries; Your Excellences Representatives of international organisations; Your Excellences Representatives of Sudanese political or civil forces; Ladies and Gentlemen, all protocol preserved;
I wish to warmly welcome you to this closing session of the preparatory meeting of the Inter-Sudanese Political Dialogue, which took place during the last five days at the African Union Commission building in Addis Ababa.
Allow me to start by expressing my gratitude to all Sudanese political and civilian actors who responded positively to the joint invitation extended to them by the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, to attend this important forum that has been convened to reflect on ways and means of resolving peacefully the ongoing armed conflict in the Republic of Sudan, one of the founding Member States of the two organisations.
We are pleased to have provided a serene and peaceful atmosphere to the Sudanese civil and political actors to engage in consultations among themselves.
IGAD and AU allowed the participants to set the agenda and method of work for their meeting. We reminded the participants of our guiding principles in our mediation namely;
- Sudanese- ownership and Sudanese-leadership
- Inclusiveness
- Reconciliation
- Comprehensively
- Neutrality of facilitators and
- Transparency.
The participants then proceeded to select among themselves by consensus the team for leading their discussions without guidance or interference. In that regard, the participants exercised full autonomy in the conduct of the meeting and the outcome document is fully owned by them and is not an IGAD or AU document.
In their outcome document, the participants presented their recommendations on a number of critical issues to be considered at any inter-Sudanese political dialogue. The seventeen recommendations pertain to issues such as ending the war, humanitarian access to relief the suffering Sudanese population, the inclusivity of the dialogue, the agenda, transitional justice, the form of transitional governance, to mention a few.
I should emphasise once again that these are recommendations put forth by participants in this meeting and we expect that other Sudanese political and civil actors to be convened next will also make recommendations on the convening of the inter-Sudanese dialogue.
IGAD and the African Union urge all Sudanese political and civilian actors to put the supreme interests of their country above all other considerations in working together to end the war and to return their country to normalcy.
IGAD and the African Union would like to reiterate our commitment and determination to accompany Sudanese stakeholders in their endeavours to reaching a negotiated and consensual solution to the current crisis. In this respect, let me be clear, this particular meeting is one in a series of consultations that would be held with other Sudanese political and civil actors who were not able to participate this time.
That means, it will be followed by consultation with Taqqadum, SLM Abdul Wahid, SPLM-North-Al Hilu, the Radical Bloc and other Sudanese political and civil actors who were unable to attend the meeting. We shall also continue to engage women, youth, professional groups, traditional authorities, etc.
We will then envision bringing together representatives of all stakeholders to constitute a planning committee for the comprehensive, inclusive Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue. The agenda, the participants and the timing of the political dialogue shall be determined by Sudanese themselves in conformity with the principle of a Sudanese-owned and Sudanese-led process. This, in fact, has been the nature of the meeting here in Addis.
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Once again, we commend the participants for responding positively to the invitation by IGAD and the African Union, for the time spent here in Addis and for the recommendations they have presented. It is an important step towards ending the war, addressing the dire humanitarian situation in Sudan and returning the country to peace.
I want to end by also appreciating, on behalf of IGAD and AU, the contributions of all partners of Sudan who continue to stand by the Sudanese people in these difficult times.
Thank you for your attention.
Inaugural Preparatory Meeting for Inter-Sudanese Political Dialogue
