Speakers
Hassan Elhag Ali
Senior Researcher, Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, The Doha Institute
Kholood Khair
Founding Director, Confluence Advisory
Jehanne Henry
Independent Consultant on human rights and international justice issues; Former East Africa director at Human Rights Watch
Khalid Mustafa Medani
Associate Professor and Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies and Chair of the African Studies Program, McGill University
Moderator
On April 15, 2023, fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti). The two generals are engaged in a power struggle after cooperating in a coup in October 2021 against the joint military-civilian transitional government, which was established following the toppling of long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. After sixteen months of war, Sudan is facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with 16,000 people killed, at least 10 million forcibly displaced, 18 million (37 percent of the population) acutely food insecure, and many subject to sexual violence. Both warring parties continue to commit human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. The war is further sustained by foreign interference and weapons supplies from neighboring African states and others like Egypt, Russia, and the UAE. Thus far, rounds of talks and mediation efforts have not succeeded in producing a resolution to the conflict.
Arab Center Washington DC is convening a panel of experts to discuss the war in Sudan and the ensuing humanitarian crisis. Panelists will outline the factors that led to the current crisis, address current humanitarian and human rights conditions, examine the challenges of reaching a political process, and provide recommendations for ways forward. Why did the Jeddah processes facilitated by the United States and Saudi Arabia fail? What are the prospects of the US-led ceasefire talks starting on August 14, 2024, in Switzerland? What is the role of the United Nations and international legal bodies and the future of accountability efforts? What are the prospects for a democratic transition? How should the United States, the European Union, and countries in the region facilitate mediation efforts and help bring the war to an end?
Featured image credit: UNHCR/Colin Delfosse
