Head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) Volker Perthes arrived in Khartoum on Tuesday and was received by the head of the Sudanese National Executive Committee for Coordination with the UN mission, Omar al-Sheikh.

The mission was supposed to start implementing all its strategic objectives on January 1 but could not do so due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Upon his arrival, Perthes said he was “looking forward to launch his mission’s official work and harness the possible technical and diplomatic support to implement the mission’s tasks in full consultation, cooperation and coordination with Sudan’s transitional government institutions, topped by the national mechanism for coordination with the UNITAMS.”

Sheikh said his committee trusts Perthes’s capabilities, qualifications and expertise to lead the mission, employ it to support the transition process’s thorny issues and implement the strategic goals set along with the transitional government.

Head of the UNITAMS planning team Stephen Sequeira and Office-in-Charge Stephanie Khoury arrived in Khartoum in December to launch the mission’s work, Sheikh explained.

Volker is scheduled to hold intensive meetings with all leaders and structures of the transitional authority, according to the committee’s statement, which added that he will first remain in quarantine for seven days to ensure he is COVID-19 free.

On June 4, 2020, the UN Security Council decided to establish the new political mission to assist the country in its transition towards democratic governance, provide support for peace negotiations and bolster efforts to maintain accountable rule of law and security institutions.

Unanimously adopting resolution 2524, the Council decided that UNITAMS will provide technical assistance to the constitution drafting process, supporting implementation of all human rights, equality, accountability and rule-of-law provisions in the constitutional document.

“Among other strategic objectives, UNITAMS will provide good offices for peace negotiations, and if requested, scalable support for the implementation of any future peace agreements, and for the monitoring and verification of possible ceasefires, with particular focus on Blue Nile and South Kordofan (the Two Areas) and Darfur.”

It will collaborate with international financial institutions to mobilize economic and development assistance, and facilitate full, rapid and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid.

The mission consists of 269 employees in total distributed on eight offices in Darfur, Kordofan, Blue Nile, Kassala and Port Sudan, with a budget of $34 million for 2021, and it is tasked to supervise the work of all UN agencies in the African country.

On June 6, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok launched the National Executive Committee to coordinate with UNITAMS and assigned Ambassador Sheikh as its head.

The Committee includes representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs, interior and finance, in addition to the military intelligence and general intelligence service.

UNITAMS was established in response to an official request in April 2020 by the Sudanese government to provide a Chapter VI peace support operation to Sudan.