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📄 APA-0007 Failed

Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan

Also known as: Jeddah Declaration

Country
Sudan
Region
East Africa
Date signed
11 May 2023
Type
Humanitarian Agreement
Mediator(s)
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United States

A humanitarian commitment signed weeks into the Sudan war, obliging both belligerents to protect civilians and enable relief passage; systematically violated and never converted into a durable ceasefire.

Conflict Background

As Khartoum collapsed into urban warfare in April 2023, Saudi and US facilitators convened SAF and RSF delegations in Jeddah, prioritising humanitarian commitments as a confidence-building floor beneath ceasefire talks.

Negotiation Context

Both parties treated the Jeddah track as a diplomatic theatre while pursuing military decisions; short-term ceasefires agreed under the process collapsed within days.

Parties

  • Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)
  • Rapid Support Forces (RSF)

Mediators & Guarantors

Mediators
  • · Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
  • · United States
Guarantors
  • · Saudi Arabia
  • · United States

Key Provisions

Commitment to IHL obligations and civilian protection
Facilitation of humanitarian corridors and relief operations
Vacating hospitals and essential infrastructure
Foundation for subsequent short-term ceasefire arrangements

Implementation

Defunct in practice. Referenced by subsequent mediation initiatives (ALPS/Geneva 2024, and later tracks) as the baseline text on civilian protection obligations.

Timeline

  1. 2023-05-11
    Declaration signed in Jeddah
  2. 2023-05-20
    First Jeddah short-term ceasefire agreed; rapidly violated
  3. 2023-11
    Jeddah talks suspended without progress
  4. 2024–2025
    War expands; atrocities documented in Darfur and Gezira; declaration a dead letter

Challenges

  • No monitoring or enforcement mechanism of any kind
  • Both belligerents calculated advantage from continued fighting
  • Fragmented external patronage undercutting mediator leverage

Outcomes

  • Established the only direct SAF–RSF negotiation record of the war's first phase — a channel future mediation can cite and build upon

Lessons

  • Humanitarian commitments require verification mechanisms at signature, not later
  • Mediation competition among external powers lets belligerents forum-shop
  • Early-war agreements signed while both sides expect victory rarely bind

Related CRCA Resources

References

  • Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan (11 May 2023).
  • OCHA situation reports, Sudan (2023–2026).