IGAD Appoints Rania Mustafa Hassan Acting Head of Mission to Sudan After Khartoum Office Reopens

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) appointed Rania Mustafa Hassan as Acting Head of its Mission to Sudan as the country’s humanitarian crisis deepens amid prolonged conflict, displacement, and worsening food insecurity.

“IGAD, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in East Africa, announced the opening of its first office in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, and the appointment of a representative there”

Al-Jazeera Net

IGAD Executive Secretary Dr Workneh Gebeyehu made the appointment on Friday, and IGAD said it aimed to strengthen its renewed diplomatic presence in Sudan following the reopening of its office in Khartoum.

Al-Jazeera Net

The Eastleigh Voice also cited the World Food Programme’s latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, saying nearly 19.5 million people are currently facing crisis levels of acute food insecurity.

The same analysis described around 135,000 people experiencing catastrophic hunger across high-risk areas including parts of Darfur and South Kordofan, and more than five million classified in emergency conditions.

While no formal famine has been declared, the IPC analysis said around 14 million people are in crisis-level food insecurity as Sudan’s civil war continues into its fourth year.

Al-Jazeera Net reported that IGAD opened its first office in Khartoum, naming رانيا مصطفى as the organization’s representative there as part of arrangements to begin operating the new office.

In the same report, IGAD Secretary-General ورقنيه قبيهو said IGAD encourages regional and international organizations to open offices inside Sudan to enable a broader understanding of the conditions and challenges the country is facing.

The Eastleigh Voice

سودان اندبندنت said IGAD requested opening a temporary office in Khartoum, and Sudan welcomed the proposal.

سودان اندبندنت added that the Deputy Executive Secretary of IGAD, Mohamed Abdi, asked Sudan's Foreign Minister, Mohy al-Din Salem, to organize a high-level visit to Khartoum as soon as possible and to pursue opening the organization's office in Khartoum temporarily.

The report said the two sides agreed to continue joint coordination, including working with international partners, and to push toward supporting efforts to achieve stability in Sudan and the region.

اخبار السودان | West Asian quoted State Minister at the Ministry of Finance, Mohamed Nour Abdul Dayim, saying Sudan's return to membership in IGAD member states represents an important step in reactivating its regional role.

“State Minister at the Ministry of Finance, Mohamed Nour Abdul Dayim, said that Sudan's return to membership in IGAD member states represents an important step in reactivating its regional role, stressing the need to benefit from the organization’s projects and to establish a strategic partnership that supports economic development and reconstruction in the country”

Akhbaar Al-Sudan

The same report said Dayim stressed the need to benefit from IGAD’s projects and to establish a strategic partnership that supports economic development and reconstruction in the country.

سودان اندبندنت reported that Sudan’s minister said the situation in Sudan represents a highly complex challenge, with top priority to improve humanitarian conditions, ensure aid reaches those in need, and remove the terrorist militia from civilian sites in some towns of Darfur and Kordofan.

The report also said the minister emphasized safeguarding state institutions, preserving national legitimacy, and maintaining Sudan's active presence in regional and international forums.

In parallel, Al-Jazeera Net described IGAD’s earlier efforts after the April 2023 war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, including forming in June 2023 a four-party committee to persuade the warring parties to stop the war and return to the table of dialogue.