![Sudanese government and SPLM-North delegation posing for photo after first session of humanitarian talks in Juba, South Sudan on Thursday, May 16, 2024. [Photo by Sudans Post]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/SAF-and-SPLM-N.png?resize=975%2C442&ssl=1)
Amar Amoun Deldoum, SPLM-N secretary-general, said the talks focused on allowing access to South Kordofan, Blue Nile and West Kordofan states, areas controlled by the rebel group.
“We are here today to launch negotiations to sign a document facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the needy people,” Deldoum told journalists following the opening session of the talks in Juba.
He added that the agreement would also cover aid delivery to Nuba Mountains, Khartoum, Gezira and Darfur, where fighting persists between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Meanwhile Yassin Ibrahim Yassin, Sudan’s defense minister and head of the government’s technical team, said a ceasefire is essential for aid delivery.
“We need a cessation of hostilities to deliver humanitarian assistance and alleviate the crisis in conflict-affected areas,” Yassin said.
Dhieu Mathok Diing Wol, South Sudan’s investment minister and secretary for the mediation committee, said any agreement on access could pave the way for political talks.
Wol said the deputy head of SAF and head of the government delegation, Shams-Edin Kabashi, and SPLM-N chairman Abdel Aziz Adam Al-Hilu had recently agreed on opening access to Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile.
“We aim to sign a document on how to address humanitarian access in conflict areas. Around 600,000 people urgently need assistance,” Wol said.
The SPLM-N refused to sign a 2020 peace deal with the government and other rebel groups, demanding a democratic, secular state with freedom of religion.
