The Sudanese Agency for Relief and Rehabilitation announced on Monday,
January 6, 2020 the arrival of the first international mission to assess the
humanitarian needs in the areas controlled by SPLM-N- Malik Agar, in the Blue
Nile, after eight years of blockade by the regime of former president Omar al-
Bashir.
In a statement received by "Darfur 24", the director of the organization, Ashraqa
Ahmed Khamis, said the humanitarian mission that arrived on January 6, in the
Oulu area of Bao locality in the Blue Nile, is led by the World Food Program and a
number of United Nations agencies to assess the humanitarian needs.
The statement considered the arrival of the mission as the beginning of the end
of the policies of the former regime, which used food and humanitarian aid as a
weapon against civilians.
The development came as a result of the signing of humanitarian agreement and
the cessation of hostilities between the Transitional Government of Sudan and
the SP L M-N-Malik Agar in Juba on December 17, 2019.Meanwhile, the
statement considered the initiative as an important step in the framework of the
confidence-building measures and the completion of the peace process.
According to the statement, the agency expressed gratitude for the mediation led
by the government of South Sudan, the Sudanese transitional government, the
World Food Program alongside other UN agencies as well as non-governmental
organizations that have provided humanitarian assistance to civilians over the
past eight years.
The statement appealed to the humanitarian community and non-governmental
relief organizations to support the efforts of the Sudanese Relief and
Rehabilitation Agency to reach a fundamental solution to the humanitarian crisis
in the two areas and Darfur.