The cease-fire, originally set to expire on July 18, has allowed international health workers to implement interventions to prevent Guinea worm disease, river blindness and other diseases.
During the trip, Carter delivered peace talk invitations from Kenya President Daniel Arap Moi, who chairs IGADD, to the Sudanese government, the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), and the Southern Sudanese In-dependence Movement/Army (SSIM/A). All sides accepted the invitations for peace talks to begin soon in Nairobi.
"All sides agreed to continuation of the four-month cease-fire as long as significant progress was being made toward achieving a lasting peace," Carter said. "They all also expressed concern about the fundamental issues that continue to divide them and agreed to discuss several principles when talks begin."
The principles for talks outlined in the invitation include: maintenance of a general cease-fire during the peace talks; the general forms of government for Sudan; how political authority will be shared or divided; the make up of military forces and their status; the sharing or division of regional resources; the length of an interim period during which these issues will be finalized; and participants who will represent IGADD and the Sudanese parties.
Carter said that the 72 Sudanese government soldiers taken prisoner in March shortly after the cease-fire declaration are an issue of great concern to the Sudanese government, and that he will continue to press for their release as part of the peace process. He also emphasized the importance of opening up to relief and health workers airfields to which the Sudanese government had denied access, and he expressed hope that a United Nations special envoy will be able to resolve this and other areas of disagreement between the government and Operation Lifeline Sudan.
The Government of Sudan, the SPLM/A and the SSIM/A all supported expanding the health initiatives during a continued cease-fire, Carter said. "I was pleased that all sides in the Sudanese conflict praised the significant accomplishments of the health projects that began in late March," he said. "Access to many areas in the country has been possible only during the last four months of relative peace, and the coordinated work of more than 20 relief agencies is truly heroic."
Progress made during the past four months includes intervention to prevent Guinea worm in 2,336 villages; treating at least 40,000 persons with the drug Mectizan to prevent river blindness; vaccinating 35,000 people for polio and 40,000 for measles; and distributing 35,000 doses of vitamin A and 9,000 packets of oral rehydration supplements.
During the continuation of the cease-fire, The Carter Center plans a much wider health program throughout the nation that also will include interventions to prevent malaria, leprosy, tuberculosis, sleeping sickness and other tropical diseases. The center also will explore re-establishing a highly successful agricultural project through the Global 2000 Program that was interrupted in 1992 by the civil war.