Editorial: The Tripartite Initiative

The Sudanese government welcomed and approved the tripartite initiative of the United Nations, African Union, and Arab League according to 9 general principles to handle the joint initiative, principles that include: honest commitment to the sovereignty of Sudan, the government's duty to maintain that sovereignty and the country's unity, the government's right to maintain security and enforce the law, the government's duty to secure food and humanitarian aid to those affected by conflicts without discrimination, and immediate cessation of armed conflicts through an integrated program.
The initiative acknowledged the Sudanese government's role in delivering humanitarian aid to those affected by disputes in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.
It also acknowledged the sovereignty of the Sudanese government in overseeing humanitarian aid operations in all of Sudan.
The principles approved the partnership between the government and the three parties of the agreement in studying the technical details of resolving the humanitarian problems in the areas of conflict, however, it was agreed that a specific time schedule must be agreed upon for humanitarian operations within a limited time period.
The principles included adopting a joint plan to provide humanitarian aid by the government and the three parties of the initiative, and adoption and application of the directives, laws, and regulations of the Sudanese government regarding the provision of humanitarian aid in the two states. The government has prepared a work plan to implement the initiative in collaboration with the three parties of the initiative.
However, it is not the first time for the government to provide the humanitarian assistance to the areas affected by conflicts according to the principles detailed in the recent initiative.
The government is reviewing all the measures and technical arrangements to confront any obstacles that might delay the flow of the humanitarian assistance in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile States.
We believe that the acceptance of the government and its welcome represent a steady step to block any attempts to impose pressures on Sudan to allow for the entrance of dubitable aid groups to the affected areas without control or monitoring.
The government has long experience of those foreign aid groups which enter into the affected areas to exploit the humanitarian assistance cover to serve agendas that have nothing to do with its humanitarian mission.
Our message to the government is to deal cautiously with the aid groups which enter the affected areas according to the mentioned agreement especially those not related to UN agencies.