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Sudan: UN welcomes restart of peace talks in Nairobi after nine-week break

Sudan: UN welcomes restart of peace talks in Nairobi after nine-week break

The United Nations team working in Sudan today welcomed the resumption of peace talks in Nairobi after a nine-week break, which was brokered by the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Humanitarian Envoy to Sudan, Tom Eric Vraalsen, said he hoped the talks would continue in a spirit of goodwill. He noted positive developments – including deliveries of food to some 188,500 people who had previously been unable to gain access to it and a record number of polio immunizations of children – that demonstrate the commitment by both parties to humanitarian goals.

“UN agencies and its partners have already been able to reach a much larger number of people in need,” Mr. Vraalsen said. “We hope that this climate continues to allow suffering to be relieved effectively while creating the right conditions for meaningful talks.”