Regional Actors Must Play a More Active Role in Mediating Sudan's Conflict

The second session  of the FES Ethiopia-IPSS breakfast meeting on the Sudan conflict was held on 29 August 2023 in Addis Ababa.The meeting was attended by diplomats, civil society representatives, researchers, experts, and members of the international community. The discussion focused on the current dynamics of the conflict, the challenges in negotiating peace, and the prospects for regional actors in mediating Sudan's conflict.

The participants discussed the expansion of the conflict outside of Khartoum and the immense economic and humanitarian impacts. The discussants also agreed that the conflict in Sudan and the humanitarian crisis have not received enough attention from the international community and regional actors. They attributed this to the Ukraine-Russia war, political transitions, and security dynamics in the Horn of Africa.

In examining the prospects for a regional approach, the participants reflected on the role of ongoing regional and global initiatives in settling Sudan's conflict. They emphasized that the current crisis in Sudan has been costing neighboring states economically, and the need to resolve the conflict is in the interest of the neighboring states as well. However, they also noted that there is no all-inclusive and coherent roadmap to deal with the conflict in Sudan.

The participants concluded that resolving the Sudanese conflict requires a thorough understanding of the real power players in the conflict and the need to deal with them. They also stressed the need to include Sudanese civil societies, political parties, and other stakeholders in any peace process.

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Ethiopia and the Institute for Peace and Security Studies extend their heartfelt gratitude towards our participants and panelists for their willingness to discuss the multi-faceted topic and hope to have achieved our goal of giving all of you a platform to exchange ideas and ease the path towards intersectional peace processes.