UN chief calls for humanitarian aid to Sudan

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance to people facing conflict in Sudan. The UN chief was speaking after his arrival in Kenya for a two-day official visit.

Guterres said top of his agenda in his meeting with Kenya's president William Ruto is the security and humanitarian situation in Sudan. He also revealed he will hold consultations with all heads of UN agencies who are meeting in Kenya's capital of Nairobi this week.

During an earlier virtual meeting with the heads of the United Nations agencies and other partners, Ruto said Kenya will work closely with UN agencies and other organizations to coordinate, scale up and deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan. He added the recent ceasefire will guarantee this happens smoothly.

"The situation in Sudan continues to concern neighbors and friends as well as the international community. At the request of several United Nations agencies operating in Sudan, I have today spoken with my Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, who shares Kenya's position that as regional states, we should support the UN agencies and their activities, particularly efforts to alleviate the impact of the conflict and facilitate the movement of people to safety," Ruto said.

Sudan's warring factions agreed to a seven-day ceasefire on Tuesday after regional envoys denounced repeated violations of previous truces. An announcement made by neighboring South Sudan's foreign ministry late Tuesday indicated the warring parties have agreed in principle to a seven-day truce from May 4 to 11.

According to the UN, more than 430,000 people have already been forced to flee their homes since fighting broke out on April 15, while hundreds of others have been killed and thousands wounded.