By Abdul Omar

The peace talks between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) are carried out under the auspices of the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The IGAD was founded in Djibouti in 1986 by six African countries: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. Achieving independence in 1993, Eritrea joined the organization in the same year. The original mandate of the organization was to cooperate in tackling challenges relating to drought and development. As regional response to the conflicts raging in IGAD’s area of operation became rather indispensable, the organization embarked on a process of revitalization, which was concluded in November 1996. Currently, the IGAD has three priority areas: food security and environmental protection; political and humanitarian affairs, including conflict prevention, mitigation, and resolution; and regional economic cooperation.

IGAD’s search for peace in Sudan dates back to 1993. Both the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A agreed that the IGAD should assume the task of mediating their differences in an effort to contribute to a lasting peace in Sudan. Since July 1997, when the IGAD moved to adopt a different approach, the organization’s peace initiative in Sudan has been driven by a Peace Committee under the chairmanship of the Kenyan President, Daniel Arap Moi. Also included on the Committee are Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Uganda, which have significant stakes in the Sudanese conflict.

The IGAD has made some progress, as the negotiating parties have accepted the 1994 Declaration of Principles (DOP) as the basis for negotiations, albeit with some resistance from the Sudanese government. The DOP covers a broad range of areas, including state and religion, self-determination, and interim arrangements. The DOP, in essence, gives the unity of Sudan a chance, while it also allows the people of south Sudan to opt for independence should it become necessary.

Lately, the length of time between different rounds of talks has emerged as a concern not only for the Sudanese people, but also for the IGAD Partner’s Forum (IPF), a group of countries that politically and financially support the Sudanese peace process. To overcome this shortcoming, in July 1999, the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A agreed to an enhanced structure put forward by the IGAD mediators. The Sudanese parties gave their blessing to the establishment of a permanent secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya, the formation of technical committees for the key issues under negotiation, and the appointment of a Kenyan special envoy.

Through its Track II Diplomacy Project, Project Ploughshares was very active in the process leading up to the enhancement of the peace process. The Project’s Kenyan director worked very closely with the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to advise on the most realistic and efficient peace process structure, and consultations continue.

Owing to the enhancement of the peace process structure, the peace talks between the Sudanese negotiating parties are now held more frequently than at any time in IGAD’s history. In the first quarter of this year, two rounds of talks were held in Nairobi, Kenya. The first set of talks, which was held in a friendly atmosphere, and was concluded in late January 2000, ended without resolving basic disagreements over state and religion. The second round of talks, which was launched exactly a month later, continued to address the same issues, including clarification of the regions in which the right to self-determination is to apply.