{"id":61373,"date":"2026-04-05T01:28:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T22:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/?p=61373"},"modified":"2026-04-05T01:28:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T22:28:32","slug":"back-to-khartoum-the-united-nations-absent-yet-present-in-sudans-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/05\/back-to-khartoum-the-united-nations-absent-yet-present-in-sudans-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to Khartoum\u2026 The United Nations: Absent Yet Present in Sudan\u2019s War"},"content":{"rendered":"

Report \u2013 Sudan Events<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Denise Brown, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian and Development Coordinator in Sudan, stated that the UN\u2019s return to operating from its premises in Khartoum represents an important step in supporting the Sudanese people affected by the war.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking at the reopening of the UN headquarters in Khartoum as part of the reactivation of UN facilities and agencies, she noted that she had not been in the city three years ago but had heard many stories from women displaced from Khartoum, as well as from her Sudanese colleagues working within the organization. She described that period as \u201cterrible times.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brown added that the return of citizens to Khartoum reflects a deep connection to their homeland, noting that a homeland holds a deeply personal and unique meaning. She stressed that the United Nations is sharing this return with the Sudanese people.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She explained that the UN is currently focused on supporting those affected by the war across all parts of Sudan, which requires a field presence in multiple regions. The return to Khartoum, she said, facilitates access to the Northern State, White Nile, and both North and South Kordofan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She confirmed that this marks the first official working day for the United Nations from its Khartoum headquarters and reiterated the organization\u2019s commitment to continue working alongside the Sudanese people to mitigate the effects of war and support recovery and stability efforts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, a key question arises: does the United Nations truly possess the mechanisms needed to support those affected by the war\u2014so that they can rely on its agencies and branches for food, shelter, and safe havens\u2014or is it continuing its usual pattern of issuing statements and promises without tangible action?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Osama Hanafi, Professor of Political Science at Sudan University, questioned whether the UN has yet realized that the situation is not a conventional conflict between two equal parties. Instead, he argued, one side is violating state sovereignty with the support of mercenaries and external backing, while the other represents the state and its people, defending the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He further asked: if the United Nations and its agencies still maintain ambiguous positions\u2014treating the militia as a local Sudanese actor capable of ensuring civilian security\u2014why did they not return to their headquarters when the militia was in control of Khartoum? Why return now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

He stated that these questions clearly demonstrate that the UN and its agencies remain trapped in the same old confusion. This, he argued, is evident in Brown\u2019s repeated statements about providing support to Sudanese citizens without translating these words into action\u2014something he says is characteristic of many UN officials.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite her references to Khartoum and the suffering of women, he noted that neither she nor UN agencies took concrete steps to support detainees in the capital or civilians in active war zones.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the UN\u2019s humanitarian and relief role is extremely limited and does not go beyond statements issued here and there by its officials, its Secretary-General, and both its former and current envoys\u2014neither of whom has provided anything that would make us believe the UN has meaningful contributions to offer in Sudan\u2019s war,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThey are reopening their headquarters\u2014nothing more, nothing less. We will see their vehicles moving around, but without any real sense of impact. Honestly, I often feel that the United Nations is closer to a television channel or a media outlet, issuing reports and circulating vehicles without turning its talk about supporting local communities into actual assistance or relief supplies.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cThose who have lived in war zones know that the UN neither wants nor is able to provide services. It is merely a witness to their suffering\u2014nothing more.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, political analyst and Director of the Noor Center for Strategic Studies, Al-Yasa Mohammed Nour, stated that the United Nations has failed to properly define the nature of the war in Sudan, leading to flawed conclusions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He questioned whether the organization has truly returned to support citizens in the Northern State, White Nile, and conflict zones such as Kordofan\u2014or whether it has simply returned for the sake of returning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He concluded that placing significant hope in the organization\u2019s return is unrealistic, noting that throughout the years of war, there has been little evidence of a UN role that effectively supports unarmed civilians who have faced killing and abuse at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces, their allies, and the states backing them.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Report \u2013 Sudan Events Denise Brown, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian and Development Coordinator in Sudan, stated that the UN\u2019s return to operating from its premises in Khartoum represents an important step in supporting the Sudanese people affected by the war. Speaking at the reopening of the UN headquarters in Khartoum as part of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61373"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61375,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61373\/revisions\/61375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudanevents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}