Please refer to the attached file.
Your Excellencies,
As esteemed leaders committed to alleviating suffering and ensuring regional stability, we respectfully write to you on behalf of the below listed international and humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in Sudan. We urgently appeal for your support and intervention in facilitating humanitarian access, especially in overcoming the critical issue of pending visa applications and travel notifications and approvals for humanitarian NGOs.
The current situation in Sudan demands immediate humanitarian action – thousands have been killed, at least 3 million displaced and millions more are vulnerable to disease, hunger, and other risks. Whilst some UN agencies and organisations have been able to secure a small number of visas, there are currently over 110 humanitarian NGO visa applications indefinitely pending, many for more than two months now. Several NGOs have not received a single new visa in the past three months. This is further aggravated by the lack of a clear system that appears to preference particular profiles without clear justification on humanitarian grounds as well as the significant challenges NGO workers who remain in country face in renewing their residency permits or extending their visas. This severely impedes the collective ability of the humanitarian system to provide vital and timely assistance to people around Sudan.
Recognising the concerns for security and stability expressed by the Sudanese authorities to limit visa issuance to NGOs, we nonetheless kindly request your esteemed influence to expedite the resumption of visa issuance for all humanitarian NGOs. We also kindly request that a new process for visa issuance with clear timelines and approval processes is outlined in the coming week. There is not a moment to lose in the provision of life-saving aid.
We were heartened that in the past rounds of talks in Jeddah both sides had committed to facilitating humanitarian access, and this was also a conclusion at recent meetings in Cairo and Addis Ababa, in line with obligations to international humanitarian law. We kindly request that these commitments now translate into action, and for all currently pending visa applications to be issued.
Thank you for your dedication to supporting humanitarian efforts that directly improves the lives of people affected by war. Together, we can limit the suffering of civilians.