Situation context
Sudan is a country in north-east Africa bordered by Egypt, Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Red Sea. The country is crossed by the Nile River system and contains large desert regions as well as fertile agricultural areas. Sudan has historically served as a cultural and trade crossroads between North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.
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What is Sudan situation about?
Sudan - Overview
What the Sudan situation is about Sudan’s current crisis is, in essence, a war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that broke out on 15 April 2023. In UN Security Council briefings, this war is described as having brutally interrupted Sudan’s political transition. But the conflict did not come out of nowhere. The Council’s discussions present it as the collapse of a longer transition that began after the 2019 overthrow of the previous regime. That transition was meant to move Sudan towards civilian rule and democracy, but it was badly damaged by the 25 October 2021 military coup. Key issues were left unresolved, especially: how to reform the security sector, how to build a single national army, how to deliver transitional justice, and how to implement peace agreements, including the Juba Peace Agreement. In that sense, the Sudan situation is about a...
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How did the Sudan situation evolve over time?
Sudan - Timeline
Sudan’s trajectory over time Here is the broad Security Council picture of how the Sudan situation evolved. --- 1) From uprising to a fragile transition (2019–2021) The first major turning point was the 2019 overthrow of the previous regime. In Security Council discussions, that moment was described as opening a real opportunity for Sudan to move from dictatorship toward democracy. During this period, the transition was built around a civilian-military partnership, international re-engagement, economic reform efforts, and implementation of the Juba Peace Agreement. By September 2021, the Council was hearing that Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok had launched political initiatives to rebuild consensus, and Sudan had also reached an important debt-relief milestone. Resolution 2579 (2021) refocused UNITAMS on supporting peace talks and ceasefire-related priorities. But even in this more hopeful...
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