Sudan
Since clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, Sudan has descended into a devastating civil war. Peace talks between the armed factions have fallen short, leaving over 25 million people in need of assistance to survive. With more than 11 million individuals displaced from their homes, Sudan now faces the world’s most severe displacement crisis. For over two decades, USIP has worked to foster inclusive peace in Sudan through training, expert advice and convening to develop policy options. The Institute is currently working with women, youth, civil society, academics, faith leaders and local communities from across the country to examine options to end the war as well as equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to actively participate in any future dialogue, peace talks and political deliberations.
Featured Publications
Four Priorities for Sudan a Year into the Civil War
This week marks a year of war in Sudan. A once promising revolution that led to the overthrow in 2019 of the country’s longtime dictator, Omar al-Bashir, has devolved into a devastating civil war. The fighting started over a dispute on how to incorporate the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the country’s military, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). A year later as the conflict between the RSF and SAF grinds on, Sudan is experiencing the world’s worst displacement crisis and one of the world’s worst hunger crises in recent history.
For Sahel Stability, U.S. Needs Broader, Coordinated Policy
As military coups and violent insurgencies have spread across Africa’s Sahel over the past decade, U.S. policy has professed to recognize and address their interconnections across the region, notably through the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership. Yet this effort remains insufficient to meet the scale and complexity of the violence and the underlying failures of governance.
Civil War Pushes Sudan to the Brink of Humanitarian Disaster
Away from the headlines dominated by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, a civil war between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is pushing the country to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. As an allegedly genocidal RSF gains the upper hand, a U.N. official has warned that Sudan is “facing a convergence of a worsening humanitarian calamity and a catastrophic human rights crisis.”
Current Projects
The Red Sea in Turmoil: Peace and Security in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East
The states on the western side of the Red Sea to the south of Egypt and the Arab states from the east of Egypt through the Arabian Gulf have long been considered distinct regions. This is increasingly a distinction without a difference, however, as these states now operate more as a common political, security, and economic zone.
Peacemaking in a Turbulent World: Lessons from Intrastate and Interstate Conflicts
Peacemaking in a Turbulent World answers the following central question: What lessons for effective management of intrastate conflicts emerged from the post-Cold War period that are relevant for managing contemporary conflicts which include intrastate, internationalized (featuring direct engagement by outside powers), and interstate conflicts?
Generation Change Fellows Program
Generation Change works with young leaders across the globe to foster collaboration, build resilience and strengthen capacity as they transform local communities.