Sudan Peace Protocols: A Statement by President Jimmy Carter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jon Moor
404-420-5107

ATLANTA....I am pleased that the Sudan peace talks made important progress yesterday with the signings of additional significant agreements in Navaisha, Kenya. All concerned should be congratulated for their dedication to working through the difficult details of these protocols. The world looks forward to a final, comprehensive accord. This will mark the true beginning of the hard work of implementing the agreements and building peace throughout Sudan.

This success in Kenya is, however, reached under the shadow of the terrible events in Darfur, and continued fighting in other areas of Sudan. If the agreements reached yesterday are to lead to lasting peace and stability, the Sudanese people must continue forward to build strong and inclusive political processes including human rights and security for all.

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The Carter Center first became engaged in Sudan in 1986 through its SG2000 agriculture program. In 1989, President Carter was invited to mediate between the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army. In 1995, he negotiated a "Guinea worm cease-fire" that lasted nearly six months, giving international health workers-including the Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program-access to areas of Sudan previously inaccessible due to fighting. Since then, the Center's health programs have worked continuously in Sudan, maintaining neutrality in the war while working to prevent unnecessary suffering from disease. In 1999, President Carter brokered the Nairobi Agreement between the governments of Sudan and Uganda that led to the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two parties.

Read about the Carter Center's work in Sudan.

The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, the Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 65 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers to increase crop production. To learn more about The Carter Center's work in Sudan and its Conflict Resolution and Guinea Worm Eradication Programs, please click on: Sudan, Conflict Resolution Program, and Guinea Worm Eradication Program.