Month: April 2022

ISLAMABAD – Experts from different countries at an online seminar, yesterday said, the strengthened relations between China and members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), will promote peace, harmony and development in the region and beyond.

The seminar, convened by Pakistani think tank Asian Institute of Eco-civilisation Research and Development, was attended by participants from countries including Pakistan, China, Iraq, Algeria and Germany.

Addressing the conference, Farrukh Iqbal Khan, a career diplomat of Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that, China and Islamic countries need to build cooperation to combat multiple challenges in the changing global dynamics.

“China is an important global and regional player, both politically and economically…and in that role, China obviously engages with nearly every regional and multilateral organisation, for a mutually beneficial and respectable partnership,” Khan said.

The participation of Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, in the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC, recently held here, reflects China’s willingness to take friendship and cooperation with the Islamic world to new heights, South-west Asia Coordinator of the Schiller Institute, Hussein Askary, from Iraq, said.

China has been playing an important role in facilitating the development of Islamic countries, by launching a number of initiatives of economic value, both at bilateral and multilateral levels, hence prompting peace, stability and development, Askary said.

Smaine Djella, a researcher and an expert of political science and international relations from Algeria, said, the unity, justice, development, partnership and bridge building, the OIC promotes is in line with China’s vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

The enthusiasm of the OIC members to build a closer partnership with China heralds their trust on the Chinese leadership, he said.

He added that, China continues to extend a helping hand to Islamic countries, to bring peace, resolve conflicts and foster sustainable development, to lift the living standards of the common people.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Ten years after independence, South Sudan “remains a deeply fragile nation beset by weak governance, pervasive insecurity, fiscal mismanagement, and widespread corruption.”

That was the thrust of a U.S. State Department report to Congress, which Reuters says also told lawmakers the Biden administration will continue to pressure those perpetuating South Sudan’s violence and officials not adhering to the 2018 peace agreement.

Cameron Hudson, a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Africa Center, said it is rare for the administration to notify Congress of something when it’s not required to do so unless there is a change in policy or something is about to happen.

“There is clearly an effort right now to acknowledge that whatever has been attempted in South Sudan has not worked under the current leadership,” Hudson told South Sudan in Focus.

“Congress and the administration are probably closer to being on the same page in South Sudan than in a lot of other places in the region,” Hudson said, “where there are vast disagreements over U.S. policy.”

The report to Congress highlights the Biden administration’s disappointment with the slow pace of carrying out South Sudan’s peace deal, said Brian Adeba, deputy director of policy at The Sentry, a New York-based research group.

“This report represents a growing exasperation with the system in South Sudan,” Adeba told VOA, “especially, I think, the government with implementing the peace agreement.”

Adeba says the report indicates the State Department is trying to draw more attention to the situation in South Sudan.

“When you look at how South Sudan has also fallen off the radar after the peace agreement was signed, the international community thought that with the signing of the peace agreement everything is going to be okay and it did not keep its eyes on the ball,” Adeba said.

“In the meantime, while attention was diverted, the government and the parties continue to delay the implementation of the agreement.”

Source: Voice of America

The United Nations is asking members for $1.7 billion to fund South Sudan humanitarian aid.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says the funding would help 6.8 million South Sudanese, according to its South Sudan deputy, Annette Hearns.

“We estimate there’s 8.9 million people whose needs are assessed against a humanitarian requirement,” Hearns said. “They have health needs [or] they don’t have enough access to safe drinking water. As humanitarians, there is no way we can provide all the support that’s needed for everyone, everywhere. Of that 8.9 million, we’re going to do our best to target 6.8 million people.”

Of the total, $230 million would target malnourished children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers. Another $650 million would provide basic food assistance and livelihood support, and $54 million would support children’s education.

“There’s more than 2 million people who have been forced to leave their homes in South Sudan and some of these are people who were displaced in years past, including from flooding in 2020 and 2021, and their areas of origin are still not accessible for them to go home,” Hearns told South Sudan in Focus.

“Some of the people told us they fled [violence] with [only] the clothes they’re wearing. When the flooding happens, it’s the same,” Hearns added.

Sometimes, she said, the families are able “to grab a blanket or a knife so they can move and go elsewhere, but not always.”

Source: Voice of America

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Chairman of the Sovereign Council on Friday threatened to expel the head of the UN Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission (UNITAMS), Volker Peretz, accusing him of interfering in Sudanese affairs.

In a briefing to the UN Security Council on March 28, Perthes spoke about the deteriorating political, security, economic and humanitarian situation in Sudan after the military coup. Also, he had submitted a report covering the past three months from November 2021 to February 2022.

The Sudanese foreign ministry, in response to his report, said that Perthes dedicates his time to political issues instead of peace implementation and elections. Also, the statement said they responded to his report and were preparing to reorient UNITAMS activities.

The Armed Forces newspaper, in an article by its editor in chief, attacked Perthes’s report saying it “included several false and exaggerated information”. The article denounced his meetings with the political forces and the Resistance Committees describing it as “a blatant interference In the affairs of the country”.

In a speech at the graduation ceremony of a new batch from the Military College on Friday, al-Burhan urged the UNITAMS head to stop violating the mission’s mandate and interfering in Sudanese affairs.

“UNITAMS Head’s violation of his mandate will lead to his expulsion from the country,” he said.

He further called on the United Nations and the African Union to facilitate dialogue between the Sudanese without exceeding their mandate or interfering in the country’s affairs.

During the past two months, the UNITAMS chief held a series of consultation meetings with the Sudanese stakeholders within the framework of a process aiming to facilitate an intra-Sudanese dialogue.

Before launching the consultations, he discussed the initiative with the military leaders who agreed with him that it should lead to a Sudanese-led process.

Following his briefing before the Security Council, the Friends of Sudan issued a statement supporting the UNITAMS-AU-IGAD facilitated the political process and welcomed the achieved progress as they prepare to launch the second phase of the political process.

Also, the former ruling coalition in Sudan, Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) welcomed the position of the UN special envoy about the coup of Gen al-Burhan and reiterated their commitment to the UNITAMS-AU-IGAD facilitated process.

On 31 March, UNITAMS issued a statement welcoming renewed support of Friends of Sudan Group for the political process led by the Sudanese and facilitated by UNITAMS, the African Union and IGAD, to restore democratic transition in the country.

The statement reiterated that the UNITAMS, and in line with its mandate “will continue to work jointly with the African Union and IGAD, and Sudanese stakeholders in the next phase of the political process, which is expected to be launched soon (…)”.

However, the mission did not mention the statement of the ministry of the foreign ministry.

Source: Sudan Tribune