By Lesedi Sibiya- Diplomatic Inside 

Sudanese-British telecoms philanthropist Mo Ibrahim is calling on African leaders to speak more proactively about the pressing crisis that is occurring in Sudan and South Sudan. At his annual governance weekend which was held in Marrakech, Morocco from 1-3 June, Mo Ibrahim expressed his concerns over Africa’s security crisis more specifically focusing on the civil-war currently taking place in Sudan with over 14 million people being displaced and 150,000 people murdered due to this civil war. The forum also touched on shrinking western aid budgets and how Africa should mobilise domestic resources. Ibrahim told The Africa Report that “Political Process, economic development, ownership-these will all remain a pipedream in Sudan and all other countries still gripped by conflict, unless we achieve peace.”

The biggest hindrance in getting any sort of aid in Sudan is the lack of access to war zones and with the spread of various diseases such as cholera that has plagued the people of Sudan because of lack of access to clean water this has made the need for aid for the citizens of Sudan more urgent. The western aid budget cuts have made it difficult for various organisations to be able to fund relief for the citizens of Sudan such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) who currently have a $150 million hole in their current budget, which has resulted in health programmes having to take a back seat.  The African Union High-level Panels which is chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki in collaboration with his organisation The Thabo Mbeki Foundation and the World Peace Foundation have also made efforts in addressing their methodology for the challenges of peace, justice, democracy and state viability within the two states. The process of implementing these methodologies began with consulting the citizens of Darfur to critically define the problems that they are facing in their state. This was followed by the African Union High-level panel to call for democratisation which would aim to give a voice to the people of Darfur. The Panel also noted that the issues of reconciliation and peace can only really be resolved by the communities in Darfur themselves instead of relying on a non-existent structural government. 

The conflict in Sudan is about to reach its third year with no end in sight, however a report by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has confirmed that humanitarian organisations are allowed to operate in South Darfur as various communities work tirelessly to rebuild after urban warfare erupted in 2023. In January 2024 the MSF returned to South Darfur to support the thousands of people who are suffering from displacement. Between the course of January 2024 and March 2025, the MSF provided relief for 659 survivors of sexual violence in South Darfur, with 56% of these acts of violence were committed by non-civilians. “When the women try to go outside the camp to farm…they will beat me, they will torture me…there is no way to go out…my aunt’s daughter she was r*ped by six men, just six days ago…I feel insecure because if I go out, I will be r*ped.” said an anonymous 25 year old woman living in a displacement camp in South Darfur to the MSF. 

General Abdel-Fattah Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, lead the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) respectively and have been the cause of anguish for millions of Sudanese civilians since their military coup began in 2021 which is the rapid cause of civil unrest and lack of aid from external forces aiming to combat the crisis. These two organizations who are currently at war with one another had started out as allies in 2021 when the coup was organized but since then the war has increased between them with Sudanese citizens constantly being caught in the crossfire. In 2024 the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the International Committee of the Red Cross along with the South African Red Cross Society and the British Red Cross Society hosted the Sixth Commonwealth Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference on International Humanitarian Law in Pretoria where there were in depth discussions being held on how to combat this ongoing crisis. “It is of the greatest importance that this very timely conference must succeed in its efforts urgently to generate the humanitarian resources needed, particularly in Sudan” former South African President Thabo Mbeki said at the conference. “A year ago, armed conflict erupted in Khartoum between SAF and RSF. Since then, I have formally engaged Sudanese and other stakeholders including humanitarian actors, on how to best address the crisis that now imperils the future of Sudan and threatens stability of the region” the former South African President continues. Many African leaders are called to foster effective ways to end the conflict in Sudan and not rely heavily on western funding to be able to do so.