Blue Nile (state) in the context of States of Sudan

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA, Arabic: اتفاقية السلام الشامل, romanized: Ittifāqiyyah al-salām al-šāmil), also known as the Naivasha Agreement, was an accord signed on 9 January 2005, by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan. The CPA was meant to end the Second Sudanese Civil War, develop democratic governance countrywide, and share oil revenues. It also set a timetable for a Southern Sudanese independence referendum.

The peace process was encouraged by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), in addition to a "troika" of donor countries comprising the United States, United Kingdom, and Norway.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (SPLM–N) is a political party and militant organization in Sudan based in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The group's armed forces are the Sudan People's Liberation Army–North (SPLA–N).

In 2011, when South Sudan broke away from Sudan to form a new country, most of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and Army (SPLA) left with it, leaving units remaining across the border in Sudan to form the SPLA–N.

West Kordofan (Arabic: غرب كردفان; Ġarb Kurdufān) is one of the 18 wilayat or provinces of Sudan. In 2006 it had an area of 111,373 km and an estimated population of approximately 1,320,405. Al-Fulah is the capital of the state.

In August 2005, West Kordofan State was abolished and its territory divided between North and South Kordofan States, in implementation of the Protocol between the Government of Sudan (GOS) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) on the resolution of conflict in Southern Kordofan/Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile States signed at Naivasha, Kenya, 26 May 2004. Section 2.1 of the protocol states that "The boundaries of Southern Kordofan/Nuba Mountains State shall be the same boundaries of former Southern Kordofan Province when Greater Kordofan was sub-divided into two provinces." The protocol forms part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. Al Fulah presently has the status of second capital of South Kordofan State, and sessions of the state Legislative Council are to alternate between Al Fulah and Kaduqli. The state was reestablished in July 2013.