The Sudan war erupted on the morning of April 15, 2023, more than 1,000 days ago. The conflict has sown destruction across the country, killing tens of thousands of people and robbing millions of their livelihoods and their homes. Sudan, for me and for millions of Sudanese people, is not a story to analyse; it is our past, present and future on this planet.
Simply put, this is our life. Seeing our country decimated, ignored, pulled apart and brutalised in front of our eyes has fundamentally altered us. Three years into this nightmare, what we need is a ceasefire that not only stops the fighting but also guarantees safety, protection and access to basic services for all Sudanese people.
A political process should then be launched that encompasses all political actors and empowers the Sudanese people to participate in a new governance system. The war in Sudan came on the tail of 30 years of a brutal regime that employed various tactics to maintain control over the country, including ethnic violence and genocide in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and other parts of the country. By 2019, the regime had exhausted its strategies, and the Sudanese people had proved their collective power; millions took to the streets to protest against Omar al-Bashir’s rule.
Women, men, youth and elders – we were all fighting with one hand and one mind. The uprising was a massive revolt that essentially deposed a crumbling dictatorship. What followed was a botched transition that failed to deliver on people’s hopes for a number of reasons.
Opposition parties that came into the spotlight were unable to maintain unity after the regime collapse. Civil society, degraded by decades of brutal polarisation, lacked agency. The grassroots groups leading the revolt possessed a clear vision, but they lacked recognition as political bodies with leadership.
Multiple external players’ interests further splintered civilian political fronts and damaged the potential for a unified vision. What made the situation even worse was that the country was in its most unstable economic and security situation. Criminal activity was rampant in the national capital, instilling widespread fear in the population.
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