AU welcomes signing of Sudan roadmap for peace

The African Union (AU) has welcomed the signing of the Sudan roadmap by opposition groups, saying it represents an important breakthrough in achieving a permanent end of the conflicts in the country.

The opposition groups signed the AU-proposed roadmap agreement in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa early this week.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the AU Commission, has welcomed the signing of the roadmap agreement developed in March 2016 under the auspices of the AU High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), an AU statement said Wednesday.

The Chairperson reiterated the significance of the dialogue as a process that would lead to the adoption of a new national constitution, which will address Sudan's multiple challenges, and thereby ensure stability and sustained prosperity for Sudan, it said.

Dlamini-Zuma said AU remains steadfast in supporting the Sudanese parties, and urged them to sustain the momentum of the signing of the Roadmap by ensuring rapid progress in the negotiations that would resume in Addis Ababa on a cessation of hostilities and much-needed humanitarian access for the South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur.

She called on all other Sudanese political and civil society formations, and the general Sudanese public, to endorse and support the roadmap agreement and processes as the most significant opportunity for achieving the democratic transformation of Sudan.

She also urged the parties to cooperate with the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies to ensure that the needs of civilians affected by the conflict are effectively addressed.

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003, and there has been fighting between the Sudanese army and opposition groups in South Kordofan and Blue Nile since 2011. Endit