Foreign Secretary speech on Sudan at the UN General Assembly as part of High Level Week

Excellencies, colleagues, friends,

Let me start from the stark truth: More than three years into this conflict, Sudan is the worst humanitarian crisis this century.

I see three pillars for urgent action:

Diplomatic: Pushing for a ceasefire and a future transition to civilian government.

Humanitarian: Working to ensure aid reaches the most vulnerable.

Civilian protection: Pushing for restraint and protection of civilians together with accountability to tackle impunity and deter further abuses.  

I think it is important though to begin with the context.

Right now, over 33 million people require humanitarian assistance – more than the population of London, New York City and Paris combined.

And unfortunately El Nino is set to worsen hunger in Sudan – driving the numbers people starving ever higher.

Worse – and I think we need to be frank about this - warring parties are deliberately destroying life-saving aid and attacking humanitarian workers – this month’s attack on a World Food Programme Convoy is but the latest shocking example.

And I want to highlight that the conflict is evolving in even more lethal ways. 

Nowhere is this more clear than in the growing use of drones.

What was once a war concentrated around active frontlines, is increasingly being fought from the air, vastly expanding the deadly terrain.

It is a sobering fact that in the first five months of this year alone, drone strikes reportedly killed more than 1,000 civilians.

Hospitals, markets, fuel depots, power stations and humanitarian supply routes have all come under attack.

Sudan is already amongst the most dangerous places on earth to be a humanitarian worker. Drones are making it more perilous still.

And of course the consequences are not only humanitarian.

The are also feeding the illusion – and other have referenced this - that military means can end this war.

We must be clear that they cannot.

There can be no military solution in Sudan.

No amount of new weaponry, new technology, or new external support will change that fundamental reality.

This growth in drone warfare and the continuing humanitarian crisis demands a step change in our response.

New drone capabilities do not appear by accident.

They are procured, financed, transferred and sustained through the networks of multiple countries outside Sudan that continue to fuel this war.

That is why the renewal of the UN sanctions regime is so important.

We welcome the efforts of the United States to strengthen the regime and ensure it reflects the realities of today’s conflict.

And we should all support that ambition.

The UN Fact Finding Mission Report of 3 September is unambiguous. It points to how external support ‘sustains operations involving serious violations and international crimes’.

And the Mission ‘calls on states to enforce the Darfur arms embargo and suspend transfers of weapons, drones, components or military assistance’.

And it further ‘calls on the Security Council to extend the arms embargo throughout Sudan’. 

So a simple rollover of the embargo is not enough.

We must use this opportunity to increase the scrutiny, pressure and consequences for those supplying, financing and enabling this war.

And we must be united in pressing the parties to protect civilians, comply with international humanitarian law and facilitate safe and unhindered humanitarian access.

In practice, this means an end to the competing visa requirements, work permits and taxation on aid imposed by both sides.

It means opening key humanitarian routes permanently, including the vital Adré border crossing due to expire this month, and routes into El Obeid and El Fasher, so aid can flow at scale.

Colleagues, we came together as an international community earlier this year to sound the alarm around El Obeid. That attack did not happen as we feared. But we cannot be complacent.

The people of Sudan cannot afford further escalation. They cannot afford another year of bloodshed.

And they cannot afford an international community that fails to deliver and fails to adapt to the new reality of this war.

We can all issue words of concern - as I am doing - and appeals for peace at grand international gatherings. But they matter little unless backed up with action.

So let us strengthen practical efforts to de-escalate the conflict, support a ceasefire, and advance a civilian-led political process that reflects the aspirations of the Sudanese people.

Let us apply real pressure to protect civilians…

To expand humanitarian access…

And also to hold to account those who profit from and perpetuate this devastating conflict.

Thank you.