The resolution expresses “grave concern over the spreading violence and the catastrophic and deteriorating humanitarian situation, including crisis levels, or worse, of acute food insecurity, particularly in Darfur.”Britain’s deputy UN ambassador James Kariuki urged the Sudanese armed forces and Rapid Support Forces “to act on this united international call for peace and to silence the guns.”The Security Council urged the warring parties “to seek a sustainable resolution to the conflict through dialogue,” and Kariuki called on the two sides to work to restore peace.Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Anna Evstigneeva accused the Security Council of “double standards” – calling for a cease-fire in Sudan and “dragging out” adoption of a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, pointing to US vetoes of a cease-fire resolution and calling this “hypocrisy.”She claimed most elements in Friday’s resolution are already being done, stressing that ending the violence shouldn’t just be the aim of the Security Council “but most importantly of the Sudanese people themselves.” Nonetheless, Russia decided to let the resolution through “because it is a question of the lives of the Sudanese people who are suffering across the country from the consequences of the conflict,” she said.According to the UN humanitarian office, 8.3 million people have been forcibly displaced by fighting between government and paramilitary forces, half of the country’s 51 million people need aid, and 70% to 80% of health facilities aren’t functioning.UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said if a Ramadan cease-fire is observed by both sides, “I can assure you we’ll be piling in the aid and repositioning, repairing institutions, getting children out to safety and so forth.”The number of Sudanese who are hungry and “food insecure” has increased by 10 million since last year because of the conflict, he said, warning of moves toward famine because of “disinterest” in the Sudan conflict by the rest of the world.Griffiths told a group of reporters Friday that he has personally been trying to get the rival commanders together in person or virtually to agree on access for humanitarian aid and workers, so far unsuccessfully.“What we need is a political process,” he said, stressing that instability in Sudan has an impact beyond its borders because of its strategic location.The impact has been seen in neighboring Chad, which is hosting over 550,000 Sudanese refugees mainly from neighboring Darfur as well as the Central African Republic and westward through Africa to the Sahel, Griffiths said. In addition, Sudan borders the Red Sea where Yemen’s Houthi rebels are attacking ships to try to spur a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
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