SW News: A key ceasefire set to go into effect in conflict-ridden Sudan on Monday night should pave the way for negotiations to resolve the conflict, according to a top UN representative.

Volker Perthes, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative for Sudan, briefed the Security Council on Monday, May 22, about recent developments and stated that lives and infrastructure are being destroyed, and the security situation is preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Perthes, who also leads UNITAMS, the UN mission in the country, said five weeks after fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces on April 15, the conflict had shown no signs of slowing down.

Perthes said the pending week-long renewable ceasefire should ease aid deliveries to millions in need and pave the way for peace talks. He also expressed numerous significant worries about egregious human rights abuses, widespread theft, and an abundance of weaponry in the nation.

He warned that the conflict's increasing ethnicization runs the risk of immersing the nation in a protracted struggle with ramifications for the surrounding area. He urged all parties to resume talks in the interest of Sudan and its citizens.

Civilians have suffered greatly as a result of this "senseless violence" due to the more than 700 recorded fatalities, including 190 children, 6,000 additional injuries, and numerous unaccounted-for persons. More than a million people were displaced by the violence; approximately 8,000 of them are pregnant women. Over 840,000 people fled to safer locations, while another 250,000 crossed international borders.

Fighting has compromised the safety of civilians which led to "serious human rights abuses and violations" of international humanitarian law. The UN is still keeping an eye out for infractions and fighting to put an end to them.

He cited damaged homes, shops, and places of worship along with a collapsing health sector with more than two-thirds of hospitals closed, many healthcare workers killed, and running out of medical supplies, as evidence that the warring parties continue to fight without regard for the laws and norms of war in Khartoum, Darfur, and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, over 60,000 people have fled from Sudan to the neighboring country of Chad, the UN refugee agency reported on Monday. Since the violence started, more than 250,000 people have crossed into neighboring countries, and as the fighting rages on, more are anticipated to leave.

UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Raouf Mazou after a four-day visit to Chad said that almost 90% of new arrivals are women and children.