Operation Lifeline Sudan

[7] The first of these UN interventions, dubbed Operation Rainbow, was launched in 1986 with the support of several donor governments and under the management of the World Food Programme (WFP).

[9] This failure was compounded by the Sudanese government under Sadiq al-Mahdi declaring that they would not be able to guarantee the security of airports in the south of Sudan where the UN and non-governmental organizations would need to fly in to distribute aid.

[9] The Sadiq government, citing concerns amid frustration with perceived overbearing attitude of the UN and WFP officials involved in the effort, declared that they would no longer support the equal distribution of food to both it and the SPLM/A.

[9] The SPLM/A began to similarly opposed the principle of food neutral aid and formed their own humanitarian organization known as the Southern Relief and Rehabilitation Association (SRRA).

[10] Operation Lifeline Sudan was created in 1989 under a unique combination of circumstances that led a convergence of international attention alongside an openness to cooperation by both the Sudanese Government and the SPLM/A.

[11][12] Central to this agreement was the principle that "corridors of tranquility" would allow for the safe transportation and impartial distribution of essential food aid through either the air or through roads.

Because the SPLM/A and its regional allies were non-state actors, OLS was not constrained by international norms surrounding sovereignty which dictated that interventions like it would usually operate in deference to the domestic government.

[3] This difficulty was made worse by the fluidity of the Second Sudanese Civil War, as the priorities of both the government and southern rebel factions shifted with the development of the conflict, creating an environment where OLS was vulnerable to the interests of the parties that it was negotiating with.

[8][12] Additionally, many have suggested that Operation Lifeline Sudan prolonged the conflict by legitimizing the SPLM/A and other rebel factions through both negotiating with them and through providing them with aid.