Saudi and Bahraini peace efforts had not succeeded in bringing about a ceasefire or ending the conflict.
The military junta led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had made it clear it would not be sending any representative to the talks while its opponents in the Sudan conflict withdrew its delegation at the eleventh hour although they had traveled to Switzerland.
The no-show from both sides came despite sme gentle persuasion from Washington and other mediators including Egypt and countries in the Middle East.
However, Washington US insisted that the talks went ahead despite the conspicuous absence of the main protagonists to the conflict which since April 2023 had pit the regular Sudanese army against elements of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Thus Wednesday’s opening ceremony was attended by officials from the African Union, the UN, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.
The Sudanese army’s snub of the talks stemmed from its distrust of the UAE which it accuses of backing its paramilitary adversaries with arms.
It was Washinton’s idea that UAE should join Egypt as an honest broker to facilitate a durable ceasfire which would allow civilians to receive humanitarian relief from aid agencies whose workers are hindered by insecurity to reach volatile parts of the country.
The Gulf state had earlier denied such accusation by the junta in Khartoum which insisted as a precondition for the talks that the RSF must withdraw its fghters from parts of the country it occupies, a key part of the Jedda Declaration.
In the lead up to the talks the US had entertained hope that both sides to the conflict will participate until it became clear that Burhan would not be sending any representative to Switzerland.
Delegates to the talks later focused on how humanitarian aid would immediately access food and medicine to millions of Sudanese trapped in the hostilities and improving the safety and security of civilians.
”The talks in Switzerland is like talking to an empty room” was how a Sudanese watcher of the latest peace initiative puts it, adding that no meaningful dialogue can happen without the two sides facing and talking to each other with a view to bridging their differences and building on this to bring peace to Sudan.
Although there are signs that both sides are growing increasingly weary of the 16-month long conflict, the army led by Burhan and the RSF under his former ally turned implacable foe Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo are unwilling to cave in to pressure both from the battlefield on the one hand and the international community on the other.
Both sides had fought each other to a stalemate but there are no signs that both Burhan and Dagalo are committed to ending hostilities which had driven over 10 million Sudanese to the edge of existence.
Meanwhile, the UN has warned that the humanitarian situation for non-combatant was worsening with each passing day.
Hundreds of truckloads of World Food Programme assistance are speeding this month to the hungriest parts of Sudan, as part of a massively scaled-up response after famine was confirmed at a camp for displaced people in the country’s Darfur region.
Targeting an initial 3 million people this month, the WFP food-and-cash support aims to prevent more people from falling into catastrophic hunger, one of the most horrific fallouts of the conflict in Sudan.
”In war-torn Khartoum, we recently distributed food and nutrition assistance to a hungry population for the first time in months. WFP is also supporting community kitchens – neighborhood volunteer groups that have become a vital food lifeline for Sudanese countrywide, especially in the capital.
“We can still turn the tide against hunger and famine in Sudan,” said WFP Sudan Emergency Coordinator Marco Calvacante.
“We can still make it.”
However, reaching millions of desperate people demands unfettered humanitarian access, safe passage, and a massive influx of funds, WFP said issuing an apeal for $459 million for its emergency response to support up to 8.4 million hungry people in Sudan by the end of the year.
WN/as/APA