1. Story: Sudan: Sixth Consultative Meeting
   SOURCE: UNTV CH

   RESTRICTIONS: NONE
   LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
   ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
   Duration: 4’00”

   DATELINE: 21 October 2026 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

    

   Speakers:

   • Pekka Haavisto, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Sudan
   • Alexandre Fasel, State Secretary, Switzerland
   •  

   SHOTLIST

   1. Exterior medium shot, UN flag alley, UN Geneva.
   2. Medium, delegate emerging from car.
   3. Medium, delegate walks into UN Geneva.
   4. Medium-wide, delegate emerges from vehicle.
   5. Medium, delegate pauses to talk to official.
   6. Medium, delegate emerges from car, walks into UN Geneva.
   7. Medium, delegate emerges from car, walks into UN Geneva.
   8. Medium, delegate emerges from car, walks into UN Geneva.
   9. Medium, delegate emerges from car, walks into UN Geneva.
   10. Medium, delegate emerges from car, walks into UN Geneva.
   11. Wide, Council chamber, UN Geneva.
   12. SOUNDBITE (English) – Alexandre Fasel: “The war in Sudan has become a drone war; it kills mostly civilians. Famine-like conditions persist in Darfur, the Kordofan state and elsewhere in the country. It is the war that drives this hunger.”
   13. Wide, delegates.
   14. SOUNDBITE (English) – Pekka Haavisto: “As April 2027 approaches, we must do everything in our power to ensure that it marks a turning point towards peace, rather than the start of another year of war and suffering. Our purpose in coming together is to place our collective efforts at the service of the Sudanese people.”
   15. Medium, delegates.
   16. SOUNDBITE (English) – Pekka Haavisto: “Our first session, devoted to de-escalation, will offer an opportunity to explore practical ways forward. I hope we can identify mutually reinforcing steps that, pursued through our respective channels of engagement, can build confidence and help create conditions conducive to a comprehensive ceasefire.”
   17. Wide, Council chamber frescoes.
   18. SOUNDBITE (English) – Pekka Haavisto: “We must also consider how these efforts can open the way towards a transitional political phase that reflects the aspirations of the Sudanese people. Our second session will therefore focus on the foundations of an inclusive and credible dialogue, capable of advancing a Sudanese-led political process. Our role is to support the Sudanese in shaping their country’s shared future, with due regard for the diversity of their voices and experiences.”
   19. Medium, delegates.
   20. SOUNDBITE (English) – Alexandre Fasel: “We are meeting in Geneva today. The Geneva Conventions are very clear: the protection of civilians and humanitarian access must not wait for a ceasefire and a political solution. Civilians are suffering and dying today.”
   21. Medium, delegates.
   22. SOUNDBITE (English) – Alexandre Fasel: “OCHA reports that almost 34 million Sudanese children, women and men need assistance as of May 2026. And that is 3.7 times the entire population of Switzerland. As yesterday’s briefing highlighted once again, it is very clear who is bearing the brunt of this war: civilians. According to UNICEF, eight million Sudanese children remain out of school. This is not only a violation to the right of education but an immense risk factor for a future, stable Sudan. Conflict-related sexual violence has re-emerged as a tactic to terrorise and humiliate the civilian population, often targeted along ethnicity or perceived affiliations.”
   23. Medium, delegations
   24. Wide, all delegations.

Sudan war: Peace efforts resume to end ‘drone war’ fuelling humanitarian crisis

Talks to halt the fighting in Sudan and alleviate the humanitarian crisis there continued in Geneva on Wednesday, where nearly two dozen countries convened to discuss a pathway to a ceasefire and transition to peaceful governance that represents all Sudanese people.

“Our first session, devoted to de-escalation, will offer an opportunity to explore practical ways forward,” Pekka Haavisto, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Sudan, in a call to delegates to identify measures and use their “respective channels of engagement [to] build confidence and help create conditions conducive to a comprehensive ceasefire”.

Now in its fourth year, the conflict began in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – former allies who had jointly seized power in a 2021 coup.

Deadly drone attacks against civilians and public infrastructure have been a feature of the war and frequently condemned by humanitarian and human rights officials.

“The war in Sudan has become a drone war; it kills mostly civilians,” said Alexandre Fasel, State Secretary of Switzerland, which is co-hosting the meeting with the UN. “Famine-like conditions persist in Darfur, the Kordofan state and elsewhere in the country; it is the war that drives this hunger.”

Highlighting the protections offered to non-combatants by international law, Mr. Fasel insisted that the Geneva Conventions “are very clear: the protection of civilians and humanitarian access must not wait for a ceasefire and a political solution. Civilians are suffering and dying today.”

Across Sudan today, almost 34 million people need humanitarian support, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, Mr. Fasel noted. He also cited UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) alerts that eight million Sudanese children are out of school today. “This is not only a violation to the right of education but an immense risk factor for a future stable Sudan. Conflict-related sexual violence has re-emerged as a tactic to terrorise and humiliate the civilian population, often targeted along ethnicity or perceived affiliations,” he insisted.

In addition to discussing efforts towards a ceasefire, delegates are expected to consider a Sudanese-led “transitional political phase that reflects the aspirations” of the country’s people, by means of “an inclusive and credible dialogue”, the UN chief’s Personal Envoy, Mr. Havisto, said, insisting that “our role is to support the Sudanese in shaping their country’s shared future, with due regard for the diversity of their voices and experiences”.

The talks, known officially as Consultative Meetings on Enhancing Coordination of Peace Initiatives and Efforts in Sudan, have previously taken place in Cairo (June 2024), Djibouti (July 2024), Nouakchott (December 2024), Brussels (June 2025) and Cairo (January 2026).

Neither the Sudanese Government nor the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are represented at the meeting in Geneva, as the mechanism was established for mediators to coordinate their actions.

On the margins of Wednesday’s meeting in Geneva, the UN Personal Envoy was also expected to engage with key regional and international partners from the so-called “Quad” mechanism” – involving the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt – and the “Quintet” mechanism of the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the UN, the European Union and the League of Arab States.

The current talks followed a day of humanitarian-focused discussions also at UN Geneva that involved delegations, senior UN officials and international non-governmental organizations operating in Sudan including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Sudan INGO Forum.

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