On 11 September 2025, alarmed by the ongoing tragedy in Sudan, the Maghreb and Africa Media Centre, the Leadership, Integrity, Values and Excellence Foundation, and the Kofi Annan Foundation convened in Nairobi, Kenya, for a high-level panel discussion to explore peaceful pathways to end the tragic war devastating the country.
The ongoing conflict has inflicted untold suffering on millions of innocent people, caused mass displacement, destroyed livelihoods, and threatens to destabilize the entire region.
The people of Sudan have endured enough. The continuation of a military solution only deepens the cycle of violence, destruction, and despair. No battlefield victory will ever bring peace, justice, or stability to Sudan—only an inclusive political settlement can do so.
We, the participants of the panel, call upon the IGAD, the African Union and the United Nations to act with urgency and moral clarity:
- Exert maximum pressure on the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Sudanese Rapid Response Forces and their allies to immediately cease hostilities and return to the negotiating table
- Reject and abandon any reliance on a military solution to the conflict, recognizing that such a path only leads to further devastation.
- Push for increased humanitarian access and protection for civilians, ensuring that aid reaches those most in need without delay or obstruction.
- Support and facilitate a comprehensive, inclusive political dialogue that centers the voices of the Sudanese people, including women, youth, civil society, faith-based organisations and marginalized communities, as the only sustainable path to peace.
- It is imperative, through a fully inclusive mediation process, to establish a civilian-led government composed of highly qualified Sudanese figures, independent of both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, and acceptable to all stakeholders. Such a government must be vested with full civilian authority to steer the country onto a credible political path, one that is supported by the international community and culminates in free and fair presidential and legislative elections.
Sudan stands at a critical crossroads. The future of its people cannot be determined by the barrel of a gun. We appeal to the IGAD, the African Union and the United Nations to rise to this moment of history, to uphold the principles of peace and human dignity, and to help end this tragic war through inclusive mediations and negotiations.
The world cannot look away. Silence, procrastination and inaction are complicity. Sudan needs peace now.
