Joint Statement on the Roadmap Agreement for Sudan
UK joins international partners in welcoming signatures of the AU Roadmap for peace talks in Sudan
The representatives of the Troika (Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States), Germany and the European Union welcome the signing of the Roadmap Agreement by the Justice and Equality Movement, the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), and the National Umma Party. In signing the Roadmap Agreement, these groups have taken an important first step in ending the conflicts in Sudan and moving towards a process of dialogue as a basis for lasting peace in their country. We welcome the support of the Roadmap by other members of the Sudan Call alliance of opposition groups.
We also commend the Government of Sudan for signing the Roadmap Agreement on 16 March 2016, and subsequently clarifying its commitments regarding the inclusion of other relevant stakeholders in the National Dialogue and to continue to uphold any decisions reached between the opposition signatories and the 7+7 Mechanism, the steering committee of the National Dialogue.
We recognize that the opposition expressed valid concerns which have been noted by the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). We believe these constitute legitimate agenda items for any preparatory meetings.
The Roadmap Agreement constitutes a valuable step towards ending the wars in Sudan. We urge the signatories to lose no further time in agreeing a cessation of hostilities and modalities for humanitarian access in Darfur and the Two Areas.
In parallel, we encourage opposition parties in Sudan to seize this opportunity to come together inside a process of dialogue to achieve a political settlement addressing the challenges that continue to face their people. And we appeal to the Government of Sudan to take all necessary steps to ensure a conducive environment for this process to succeed.
We wish to underscore the significant efforts of the AUHIP in helping to achieve this Roadmap Agreement, and we call on the signatories to engage constructively and sincerely to build on the Roadmap in order to realize a peaceful and stable Sudan.