Former Sudanese PM Hamdok on Peace Efforts, Humanitarian Crisis, and Sudan's Future

The Current Crisis in Sudan

• 🇸🇩 The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is described as the largest in the world, surpassing Gaza and Ukraine combined, with over 15 million internally displaced and 4 million refugees.
• 💔 The civil war, which began on April 15, 2023, between the RSF and Sudan's armed forces, has resulted in over 200,000 deaths and widespread destruction of infrastructure.
• ⚠️ Food is being used as a weapon of war, a crime against humanity, with millions facing famine and starvation.

Peace Proposals and Challenges

• 🕊️ A new proposal for a truce, put forward by the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt, is seen as a potential 'light at the end of the tunnel'.
• 🚫 Attempts to pick sides or favor one faction over another are seen as a recipe for prolonging the war.
• 🤝 Healing the deep wounds of conflict, which have spanned generations and involved marginalization, identity politics, and impunity, will require a long-term process.

Path to Sustainable Peace

• 🎯 The root causes of the conflict, including marginalization, failure to manage diversity, and impunity, must be addressed for sustained peace.
• 🗣️ A political process is essential to move beyond a ceasefire and address community issues, hatred, and speech that have divided the country vertically, ethnically, and regionally.
• roundtable conference involving major civilian blocks, excluding political Islam, is proposed as a way to establish transitional arrangements and a constitution.

Call to the International Community

• 🌍 The international community's number one priority must be saving lives and addressing humanitarian needs, as has been done in other conflicts.
• 🚫 There is no military solution to the conflict; prolonging the suffering of the Sudanese people is unnecessary if neither faction can achieve outright victory.
• 🤝 A sustained peace can only be achieved through a political process that addresses the underlying causes of the crisis.