Speaking to journalists in New York on Monday, Fletcher said recent meetings with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had aimed to tackle critical blockages that continue to prevent lifesaving assistance from reaching civilians. His comments followed a visit to several parts of Sudan, where he met leaders, frontline responders and survivors of the country\u2019s deepening crisis.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fletcher stressed the urgent need for a broader UN presence in the country. \u201cWe need more UN boots on the ground,\u201d he said. \u201cThe UN is a ship that was not built to stay in the harbour, and this visit has been part of that big push to make sure we are mobilised closer to those we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fletcher held what he called a \u201cuseful\u201d meeting with General Burhan, leader of the SAF, during which he pressed for \u201cunlimited\u201d and \u201cunhindered\u201d humanitarian access. He also met representatives of the RSF in what he characterised as a \u201ctough\u201d discussion focused on civilian protection, accountability and guaranteed safe passage for aid convoys.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fletcher said both the military authorities in Port Sudan and the RSF had given a \u201cpretty strong agreement\u201d on providing full access for humanitarian convoys and safe routes for civilians fleeing the violence. \u201cNow let\u2019s see what happens next,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The UN has also secured approval to send teams into El Fasher in Darfur, which Fletcher warned must not become a politically manipulated operation. \u201cWe are not going to be instrumentalised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a potential crime scene, and we have got to make sure we have the right people going in, and that the aid is genuinely neutral and impartial.\u201d El Fasher fell to the RSF last month following a siege lasting more than 500 days, displacing about 90 000 people since the end of October.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fletcher said there is still no credible estimate of how many have been killed, and raised an alarm that \u201cmany people clearly aren\u2019t getting out of El Fasher\u201d. He said establishing why civilians remain trapped will be a key priority when UN teams enter the city.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15509,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-15508","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"United Nations (UN) Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Tom Fletcher has held what he described as \u201cuseful\u201d and \u201ctough\u201d discussions with both warring sides in Sudan, as he seeks to secure unhindered humanitarian access for millions trapped by the conflict.","published_date":null,"news_description":"United Nations (UN) Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Tom Fletcher has held what he described as \u201cuseful\u201d and \u201ctough\u201d discussions with both warring sides in Sudan, as he seeks to secure unhindered humanitarian access for millions trapped by the conflict.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19717,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15508\/revisions\/19717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=15508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}