The conflict between the North and the South of Sudan began in 1955, the year before that Sudan gained its independence. It has continued for all but eleven of the 48 years that Sudan has been independent.

Until the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) had spent the past 21 years fighting over resources, power, the role of religion in the state and self-determination. Over two million people died, four million people were uprooted and some 600,000 people fled the country as refugees.

There had been many attempts to bring peace, including by neighbouring states, concerned donors, other states and the parties themselves. The latest attempt began in 1993, when the Heads of State of the then-Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) started an eleven year process which has led to the threshold of peace.

The United Nations supported the regional peace initiative under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Africa, Mohamed Sahnoun, and other senior officials have represented the United Nations at IGAD summit meetings and undertook consultations with regional governments and organizations in support of the peace process. They have also taken part in meetings of the IGAD-Partners Forum, composed of donor countries and organizations, supporting the IGAD peace process.

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