El Fasher, Sudan | March 3, 2016
A delegation from the United States Embassy in Khartoum, led by Chargé d’Affaires (CDA) a.i. Benjamin Moeling, completed a successful visit to North Darfur on March 3. The delegation met with a wide range of individuals and organizations in El Fasher, including the Wali, local government and security authorities, United Nations (UN) humanitarian organizations, United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Darfur business people, and in Zam Zam camp, individuals who have been displaced by the fighting in Jebel Marra. A meeting with Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) Chair, Dr. Tijani Sesei, and the CDA a.i. was a useful opportunity to exchange ideas on security, facilitation of voluntary return of displaced people, and Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programs.
“In Darfur we heard a unanimous sentiment: everyone wants peace and stability, no one wants war,” CDA a.i. Moeling said. “Victims of conflict do not want to be caught between opposition and government forces; business people do not want to have to confront bandits and hijackers on the road.”
In discussing the humanitarian situation with UN representatives, the U.S. delegation was pleased that the UN confirmed it has access to the displaced persons’ sites in North Darfur, including some of the populations displaced by fighting in Jebel Marra. The United States notes, however, that access to populations in Central Darfur has been difficult and obstructed, and calls on the Government of Sudan to replicate its successful cooperation with humanitarian agencies in North Darfur by opening up Central Darfur as well.
The United States Embassy looks forward to additional missions to Darfur in the months to come.
