Ambassador Ihab Awad delivers Egypt's speech at the UN Security Council meeting on Sudan. Photo: UN
Addressing a UNSC session on Sudan, Egypt's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ihab Awad, said recent developments pointed to "systematic attempts" to weaken Sudanese state institutions and impose alternative authorities.
"The UN Security Council must confront attempts to divide Sudan," Awad said. "Rescuing Sudan from its current crisis is a collective responsibility and a political, moral, and humanitarian duty incumbent upon the entire international community."
Awad warned against what he described as the international community's failure to respond to the worsening humanitarian situation, citing attacks on civilians and deteriorating conditions in several parts of the country.
He called for an end to drone strikes on civilian infrastructure in Khartoum and other cities and urged action to prevent further attacks such as those reported in El-Geneina and El-Fasher in the Darfur region.
The Egyptian envoy also highlighted the humanitarian situation in El-Obeid, saying the city's ongoing siege threatened hundreds of thousands of civilians with catastrophe.
Awad backed a recent UN Security Council press statement on El-Obeid, saying the starvation of civilians, obstruction of humanitarian aid, and attacks on civilian infrastructure violated international humanitarian law.
"The practices of Rapid Support in El-Obeid constitute flagrant violation of international law," he said.
Reaffirming Cairo's position on the conflict, Awad said Egypt opposed any attempt to partition Sudan or recognize parallel governing structures and continued to support a political process led by Sudanese actors.
He said Egypt was coordinating with regional and international partners, including through the Quad mechanism, to secure a ceasefire and humanitarian truce that could pave the way for negotiations.
Awad also emphasized the importance of building on Egypt's previous efforts to bridge differences among civilian forces and integrating them with proposed settlement initiatives, including the plan presented by head of Sudan's transitional government Kamil Idris before the UNSC in December 2025.
He reaffirmed Egypt's position that a sustainable solution for the Sudanese crisis can only be a purely Sudanese one, stemming from the will of the Sudanese people and supported by national state institutions, free from external dictates.
Awad arejected proposals that place the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on an equal footing.
"There can be no solution to Sudanese crisis that equates Army with militias," he said.
He argued that any lasting settlement should include accountability for abuses committed during the conflict through Sudanese transitional justice mechanisms.
Awad also called for an immediate halt to the flow of weapons, mercenaries, and foreign fighters into Sudan, warning that the conflict risked destabilizing neighbouring countries, the Horn of Africa, and the Red Sea region.
Sudan's war, which began in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands of people, with some estimates putting the death toll above 200,000, displaced millions, and triggered one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.
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