Sunday, March 17, 2024

Ali Karti, SG of Sudan’s Islamic Movement, widely seen as a mastermind of Sudan's war, has now announced a truce with RSF will never be accepted

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Dame Rosalind Marsden in the following analysis 'Sudan's forgotten war: A new diplomatic push is needed' says there needs to be a concerted diplomatic push at the highest level: "the aim must be to change the calculations of the generals and counter the influence of hard-line Islamists from the Bashir-era who are blocking negotiations. This requires pressing for a coordinated mediation process to prevent warring parties’ forum-shopping between mediation initiatives; targeting the financial flows and military supplies fuelling the war; and supporting efforts to unify those Sudanese working for the goal of democratic transition."


It is difficult to see why Dame Rosalind is recommending "a coordinated mediation process" as even she says "Ali Karti, the Secretary-General of Sudan’s Islamic Movement, who is widely seen as a mastermind of the war, has now announced that a truce with the RSF will never be accepted." 

Many Sudanese civilians online are saying they don't want Sudan to be led by Gen. Burhan and his Islamist regime nor by Hemeti and his terrorist militia. I've not seen a solution. Maybe the people could join hands in peace.

Note, in her analysis Dame Rosalind rightly publicises the Emergency Response Rooms, aka ERRs, by saying: "Donors will also have to step up to address the spiralling food crisis, by reducing the UN funding gap and supporting grassroots first responders in the Emergency Response Rooms.' 
______________________________

From Chatham House
EXPERT COMMENT
By Dame Rosalind Marsden
Associate Fellow, Africa Programme 
Email Rosalind  Twitter

Dated Thursday, 14 March 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Sudan’s forgotten war: A new diplomatic push is needed

After nearly a year of devastating conflict, there is little sign of a ceasefire. Concerted high-level international pressure is needed to change the calculations of the generals and support a democratic transition.

Image — People rally in Wad Madani, Sudan, in December 2023. 

(Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

On 8 March, the UN Security Council adopted a UK-drafted resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan during the month of Ramadan, a sustainable resolution to the conflict through dialogue, compliance with international humanitarian law and unhindered humanitarian access.


Eleven months into the war, this is the first time that the Council has been able to agree on a resolution. The mandate of the UN Panel of Experts that monitors the sanctions regime in Darfur was also renewed by the Council. Does this signify hope that efforts to end the war might gather momentum? Or is Sudan likely to face a protracted conflict?


The war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) led by General Abdel Fatah Al Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as ‘Hemedti’) is a competition for power and resources between rival factions of the regular armed forces.


But it is also rooted in Sudan’s long history of internal conflict, marginalization of the peripheries and lack of accountability for atrocity crimes. Both the SAF’s officer corps and the RSF are creations of former President Omer al-Bashir’s regime. 


Each has shown disregard for the lives of Sudanese civilians by waging war in densely populated urban areas. The scale of destruction is unprecedented in Sudan’s modern history.


With the world’s attention focused on Gaza and Ukraine, the war receives woefully little high-level political, parliamentary or international media attention, raising serious questions about double standards in dealing with global crises, particularly conflicts in Africa.


A humanitarian catastrophe


Sudan is suffering from a humanitarian disaster, with a looming famine and the world’s biggest displacement crisis: 8 million people are newly displaced inside or outside the country, in addition to over 3 million displaced by previous conflicts.


The head of the World Food Programme has warned that the war risks creating the world’s largest hunger crisis. Yet the UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan is only 4 per cent funded.


The conflict has the potential to destabilize already fragile neighbouring countries, create large new migration flows to Europe, and attract extremist groups.


Meanwhile, regional actors are fighting a proxy war in the country, giving military, financial and political support to the warring parties. 


The involvement of Russia and Iran has given the war a geopolitical dimension linked to Putin’s war in Ukraine – partly funded with Sudanese gold – and competition for influence on the Red Sea coast.


Food as a weapon of war


Both RSF and SAF forces have used hunger as a weapon of war. The RSF has looted humanitarian warehouses and besieged cities. 


The SAF-controlled Humanitarian Aid Commission has systematically withheld authorization for crossline movement of life-saving aid to RSF-controlled areas.


One limited outcome from recent international pressure has been the partial reversal of the SAF’s ban on cross-border humanitarian access from Chad into Darfur. The de facto SAF authorities in Port Sudan have agreed to open limited border crossings from Chad and South Sudan. However, MSF International have criticized this as a partial solution at best.


The UN will need to monitor implementation to ensure neutrality in the distribution of aid, while intensifying pressure for unhindered cross-border and crossline humanitarian access.


Donors will also have to step up to address the spiralling food crisis, by reducing the UN funding gap and supporting grassroots first responders in the Emergency Response Rooms.


Growing pressure for a cessation of hostilities


The fact that the UN Secretary-General, the UN Security Council, the African Union, and the League of Arab States joined forces to call for a Ramadan truce, represents a significant increase in pressure on the warring parties.


Nevertheless, Ramadan has started with further fierce fighting. It is unclear how the Security Council expected a truce to take effect without prior diplomatic engagement to agree an implementation and monitoring mechanism. 


Command and control is fragmented on both sides and the warring parties have failed to abide by previous temporary truces negotiated through the Saudi/US-sponsored Jeddah Platform.


Moreover, Sudan’s security state has no history of respecting the month of Ramadan: the current war began during the holy month on 15 April 2023, and peaceful protestors were brutally dispersed in Khartoum on 3 June 2019.


Burhan cautiously commended the Secretary-General’s proposal for a Ramadan truce, but the Islamist-controlled Ministry of Foreign Affairs and SAF’s General Yasir al Atta poured cold water on the idea by announcing a list of preconditions amounting to surrender by the RSF.


8 million


Number of newly displaced people as a result of the war in Sudan.


This response follows a familiar pattern: any indication by Burhan of readiness to negotiate is immediately negated by Islamist elements of the Bashir regime, who hope to return to power on the back of an SAF victory. 


Ali Karti, the Secretary-General of Sudan’s Islamic Movement, who is widely seen as a mastermind of the war, has now announced that a truce with the RSF will never be accepted.


Both sides still seem determined to gain the upper hand militarily. The SAF, hitherto on the back foot, has launched an offensive to regain lost territory in Omdurman and Gezira state, supported by Iranian drones, Islamist militias, the Special Operations Forces of the Bashir-era Intelligence Service, former Darfuri rebels and armed civilians. 


The RSF, whose human rights violations have alienated much of the population, welcomed the UN’s call for a truce, but are also engaged in recruitment, particularly among Arab tribes in Darfur.


The longer the war continues, the greater the risk that it will evolve into a full-scale ethnicized civil war, and that the country will be engulfed by famine.


A concerted diplomatic push


Concerted diplomacy at the highest level is therefore urgently needed. The aim must be to change the calculations of the generals and counter the influence of hard-line Islamists from the Bashir-era who are blocking negotiations.


This requires pressing for a coordinated mediation process to prevent warring parties’ forum-shopping between mediation initiatives; targeting the financial flows and military supplies fuelling the war; and supporting efforts to unify those Sudanese working for the goal of democratic transition.


Civilians are the main victims of the war and should be involved in each stage of any peace process. They, not the generals, should shape Sudan’s post-war transition. Those responsible for atrocities must be held accountable.  


There has been some recent evolution in regional dynamics. Egypt and the UAE, who have been backing opposite sides, co-facilitated RSF/SAF talks in Manama in January, alongside the US, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.


There are also signs of a stronger international commitment to active diplomatic engagement. The AU has created a High-Level Panel on Sudan, while the US has appointed a dedicated Special Envoy. The Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary-General has been empowered by the Security Council to complement and coordinate regional peace efforts.


But a strong push is now needed to silence the guns and push the warring parties to resume talks under the Jeddah Platform, preferably in an expanded format. More visible, high-level political commitment is badly needed, if the conflict in Sudan is not to remain a forgotten war.


This article was produced with support from the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) research programme, funded by UK International Development. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies.

___


Postscript from Sudan Watch Editor:

Dame Rosalind Marsden was the EU Special Representative for Sudan from September 2010 until October 2013. Before joining the EU, she had a long career in the British diplomatic service, including postings as Consul-General in Basra, British Ambassador to Sudan and British Ambassador to Afghanistan. 


She has also served as Head of the United Nations Department and Director (Asia-Pacific) in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. 


Earlier in her career she served twice in the British Embassy in Tokyo and spent two years on secondment to the private sector, working in the corporate finance department of an investment bank. 


She received her BA in Modern History from Somerville College, Oxford and her D.Phil from St Antony’s College, Oxford.


View original: https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/03/sudans-forgotten-war-new-diplomatic-push-needed

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Related 


Chatham House - 18 December 2023 

How a transnational approach can better manage the conflict in Sudan

Approaching conflict as a national issue sidelines a complex web of transnational influences and threatens prospects for sustainable peace.

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/12/how-transnational-approach-can-better-manage-conflict-sudan

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UN News - 3 February 2024

Youth-led ‘emergency rooms’ shine rays of hope in war-torn Sudan

© ERR Emergency response rooms are finding innovative approaches to providing rapid assistance to millions facing war in Sudan. 

END

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Darfur War Child raised in Abu Shouk IDP camp: Abdoalnaser Ibrahim, Businessman (Boy) by 11!

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: I received an astonishing email last Monday from a stranger, Mr Abdoalnaser Ibrahim in Canada. Here is a copy, reprinted in full with permission, followed by my reply and Abdoalnaser's story of his childhood in Abu Shouk IDP camp, North Darfur circa 2004.

Email from Abdoalnaser Ibrahim 
Dated Monday, 11 March 2024
Photo: Abdoalnaser Ibrahim, Aspiring Data Analyst | Certified in Data Analytics | Petroleum Engineer

I am a survivor of the 2003 Darfur genocide, spent most of my life in Abushock IDP camp - my Mom wnated for us to get educated and have better life after my father's passing away in the war - I worked hard both in education and in supporting my family. In 2013 I was amongst Sudanese top students and joined University of Khartoum and studied engineering and been volunteering since for the cause of no other child should live what I have been through.

In 2022 I joined UN Youth Delegate program sponsored by Germany for Sudanese youth and attended the UN General Assembly of Sep 2022.

After that I came to Canada, applied for asylum and currently living in a refugees shelter - all excited to enjoy my new life, support family, contribute to Darfur betterment as well as inspire youth around the world in IDP camps and Refugee camps.

Going through your profile was such a delight as you were one of those who have worked hard so that kids like me and all war victims (I was 7 at 2003) can have a better life, heal from what they have lived and get justice.

Also, I witnessed the visit of Koffi Annan, Colin Powell, condoleezza rice and the accompanying delegates to our IDP camps.

Thank you from my bottom of heart for the good that you did to us 🙏

Please let me know if by any chance you would be available for a quick virtual meeting - I would love to know you, the work you did and still doing.

Stay safe and sound !
__________________________________

HERE is a copy of my reply to Abdoalnaser, sent a few days later:

Dear Abdoalnaser, 
Greetings from England UK and thank you for connecting and for your wonderful messages, gratefully received and much appreciated. 

Your news and words brought me to tears. Over the years, I've often wondered what became of all the babies, children and youngsters in Darfur from 2003-4 onwards. Now through the wonders of the internet I have, for the first time in 20 years, heard from one of those children with some feedback. 

You write beautifully with interest, warmth and humour. Your English is very good. I liked your story (boy to man) and wanted to ask you for your permission to publish it and its photos at Sudan Watch. 

Your story is a truly inspiring. What strikes me about your writings and that of some of the Lost Boys [and Girls] of (South) Sudan - some of whom became child soldiers - is that your extraordinary experiences, hard work, resilience, tenacity and persistence have made you incredibly strong clever people with charming manners and personalities. 

I must stop now or another day will pass without you receiving my gratitude and thanks from the bottom of my heart. 

I'm thrilled you got through it all. 
Extremely well done, I look forward to keeping in touch. 
Warm regards, 
Ingrid.
_____________________________

THIS is Abdoalnaser's story of his childhood living in Abu Shouk camp, North Darfur, one of the largest camps for internally displaced persons in Sudan, written in his own words.

Businessman (Boy) by 11!

Dated February 14, 2024


Story about a business idea in my childhood and a message to internally displace persons and refugees around the world

Photo: Myself after a hectic business day in 2010 taking a photograph for high school application.


Post Darfur 2003 conflict at which I lost my father, and after which me, the rest of my family and many others were forced by war to leave our homes and settle into IDP camps — all have lost loved ones and property, I was 7 years old by then. The situation in our IDP camp was very challenging — but luckily humanitarian organizations generously provided us with the needed aids to survive.


That situation tasked me in a very early age with big questions about life and the future, by the age of 10 years old — I asked my mother to allow me work and share with her the financial responsibilities she was desperately trying to meet – selling her valuables and doing tough labor, she agreed after negotiations — with the condition of not defaulting on my education.


I started working as a plastic containers distributor by carrying a big package on my shoulders containing many of them, going to shops across Abushock and Abuja IDP camps block by block — and asking them if they wanted some. But the tremendous effort exerted in distributing / selling never corresponded with the income gained — average of 3 SDGs (SDG: Sudanese Pounds / currency, I SDG = 3.34USD back then) per day at best with scanning the whole two camps walking, after doing that for a year -I started thinking about alternative ways to do a business that rewards better and pays off, that is when I got into Amir Alpha product selling (a glue- adhesive for many surface materials).

Image: Amir Alpha product carton.


The inspiration stemmed from the fact that shop owners in the two camps when bringing products for final selling, they usually go to a specific side of the market (Food and utilities), but the Amir Alpha product was in another side of the market, so after shop owners are loaded with lots of goods from the first side, it becomes harder for them to go to the other side with the amount of goods they bought, and for just one product, but they often do not even remember it. The reliability of a shop owner in Sudan is in part influenced by whether they have all necessities available for customer buyers, that keep customers returning to same shop — so many shop owners ask me a lot about whether I have it or can provide it — for they get asked about the Amir Alpha product a lot by many loyal customers wanting to fix their broken items, I also asked many others whether they have it and would buy if I were to provide it — and a sizable number of them responded positively.


That is when I got a penalty at the 90th minute, and charged myself with providing it for the shop owners, I would buy a carton and divide the Amir Alpha products inside into dozens a pack, a carton like the one attached above in green makes 21 dozens — the whole carton cost around 30 SDGs back then and I would sell a dozen pack for 2.5 SDGs — making around 22.5 SDGs pure profit, and I am the boss of myself — so with this amount of income I turned into only working on weekends to focus on school — and would use half of it and contribute the rest to family welfare, as time goes by — I have scaled up my business and continued profiting until other competitors appeared in the market, but by then I have already built personal connections with my customers and gained their loyalty.


That window of freedom to work in early childhood taught me valuable life lessons and skilled me in many areas of life, which shaped my resilience and creativity of today.


Back then — I would just look at a shop owner and know whether they were going to buy or not, and was resilient enough to rarely skip a prospect buyer in my scanning of the two camp shops.


So this is a message to all struggling youths around the world including those in refugee and IDP camps, experiencing sheer poverty, balancing education and labor — maybe you were not born into the right context you wish have happened, your thinking power, resourcefulness, and grit are priceless if projected and replicated into businesses, tech, and many other walks of life — your minds are capable as much as MIT and Harvard graduates, if not more - provided with an opportunity to grow, be restless in seeking opportunities and learning new tools to gain more flexibility and ease carrying out your day to day affairs, 


(For example; just today as I was applying to a range of jobs - I discovered a setting in windows that enables you to access any item you have copied before, it indeed increased my productivity afterwards).


END

Friday, March 15, 2024

Study reveals four unique giraffe species across Africa

RESEARCHERS at the University of Copenhagen found evidence suggesting there may actually be four distinct giraffe species across Africa. This completely changes our understanding of giraffes. Recognising four giraffe species would mean developing separate plans to protect each one.

According to this article, Nubian giraffes are found in South Sudan and the Kordofan giraffe inhabits Cameroon, CAR, and possibly Sudan. Read more.

From Earth.com
By Sanjana Gajbhiye
Earth.com staff writer
Dated Wednesday, 13 March 2024

Study reveals four unique giraffe species across Africa

























Giraffes have long been admired for their beauty and stateliness. However, scientists have recently discovered a surprising fact about these animals: they may not be just one species.


Researchers at the University of Copenhagen found evidence suggesting there may actually be four distinct giraffe species across Africa. This completely changes our understanding of giraffes. Recognizing four giraffe species would mean developing separate plans to protect each one.


Four giraffe species

Previously, all the giraffes were recognized as one species – Giraffa camelopardalis. The research provided strong genetic evidence that all the giraffes are distinct enough to be classified as separate species.


Northern Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)

All Northern Giraffes have lighter colored spots. They are divided into three subspecies, each found in different geographical locations:

  • Nubian giraffe: Found in Ethiopia and South Sudan.
  • West African giraffe: Located in Niger.
  • Kordofan giraffe: Inhabits Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, and possibly Sudan.

Reticulated Giraffe (Giraffa reticulata)

This species is also called the Somali giraffe, is known for its unique brown spots with clear white borders that look like a net. They live in northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia, and Somalia.


Masai Giraffe (Giraffa tippelskirchi)

Masai is the biggest and darkest colored of all, with patches shaped like stars that go all the way down to their hooves. You’ll find them in central and southern Kenya and throughout Tanzania.


Southern Giraffe (Giraffa giraffa)

Southern Giraffes have round or blotched spots, which are more uneven and less defined than the Reticulated Giraffe’s spots. They are classified further into two subspecies:

  • South African giraffe: Inhabits northern South Africa, southern Botswana, southern Zimbabwe, and southwestern Mozambique.
  • Angolan giraffe: Found in northern Namibia, southern Botswana, southwestern Zambia, and western Zimbabwe.

All of the groups are connected and some even mix, like the reticulated giraffe which has genes from both the northern and southern giraffe ancestors. The researchers were surprised by this interconnectedness.


“When we started getting results from our analyses of gene flow between different giraffe lineages, we had to check twice,” recalled Laura D. Bertola, a postdoc at the Department of Biology and one of the authors on the study.


Redefining giraffe species

This widespread mixing between giraffe groups throws a wrench into how we define a species. Traditionally, scientists thought extensive gene sharing only happened within a single species. But the giraffes’ story flips that idea on its head.


It suggests that the amount of genetic difference might not be the clear-cut way to identify new species as we once believed. “Our findings touch on a very delicate matter in biology, namely that we do not have a universally agreed species concept.” said Rasmus Heller, one of the senior authors.

Instead of trying to pinpoint the exact number of giraffe species, the study aims to highlight the fluidity of gene flow among giraffes, which remains possible under the right conditions.


Conservation of giraffe species

This discovery is a game-changer for giraffe species conservation. Traditionally, we’ve focused on protecting different species entirely. But this study emphasizes the need to consider the genetic variation within a species as well. Each giraffe lineage, regardless of its specific taxonomic classification, boasts a unique genetic makeup that deserves protection.


“Giraffes are such endlessly fascinating animals, and this study confirms just how much genetic variation there is even on small geographical scales,” noted Yoshan Moodley, a co-author of the study from the University of Venda in South Africa.


The findings from the University of Copenhagen are part of a broader effort under the African Wildlife Genomics research framework, associated with the African BioGenome Project.


The study is published in the journal Current Biology.


View original: https://www.earth.com/news/study-reveals-four-unique-giraffe-species-across-africa/


END