With less than 100 days until Sudan’s scheduled referenda for southern self-determination and Abyei, Sudan is at risk of renewed war, with dire consequences for civilians. The Enough Project is introducing a new feature, the Sudan Peace Watch. In these regular updates, Enough’s team of researchers and policy analysts will provide in-depth coverage of developments around the key benchmarks and potential flashpoints in the run-up to the referenda and beyond.
The key developments covered in today’s inaugural edition include:
- Preparations for the South Sudan referendum remain behind schedule: A recently-released timetable has voter registration ending just days before the actual vote, allowing little room for logistical mistakes or problems.
- Abyei negotiations flounder in Addis: U.S.-brokered talks to break deadlock over the issue of voter eligibility in Abyei failed to find agreement between the two Sudanese parties following nine days of negotiations. Talks will reportedly resume in late October.
- Post-referendum talks have made little progress: Difficult decisions on oil-sharing, citizenship, and other thorny issues will likely only be resolved through high-level political negotiations between the two parties with active international mediation, not in the technical committees created to work on the issues.
- Insecurity pervasive in Darfur as Doha talks in doldrums: Violence caused by Chadian rebel groups, the Sudanese army, and unidentified armed actors continues to afflict Darfur; Doha talks resumed without key parties while the mediation team announced a forthcoming draft peace agreement.
We’ll release a new Sudan Peace Watch once every two weeks or so and publish them on the Sudan page of our website. We’ll also post a synopsis on Enough Said on the day a new edition comes out.
To advocate for high-level U.S. attention to Sudan at this crucial moment, visit sudanactionnow.org.