Mediation and Peacemaking Dilemmas to the Sudan Crisis
Mediation and Peacemaking Dilemmas to the Sudan Crisis
a paper by Munzoul A.M. Assal (Chr. Michelsen Institute) and Abdelmageed M. Yahya (Open University of Sudan)
Date: Wednesday July 9th, 2025
Time: 12pm
Speakers: Abdelmageed M. Yahya
The seminar will discuss the challenges and prospects of internal and external mediation efforts to resolve Sudan’s ongoing war, which began in April 2023 in Khartoum and other major cities before expanding into a complex, multi-actor conflict. The paper explores why mediation has so far failed, drawing on the authors’ field experience, interviews with key stakeholders, and event analysis. Internal efforts have been weakened by exclusion, societal divides, limited capacity, and a lack of long-term vision. External initiatives—such as the Jeddah talks and actions by IGAD, the AU, and neighboring states—have struggled with issues of neutrality, narrow military focus, and a failure to address Sudan’s deeper socio-political dynamics. Despite these challenges, many Sudanese still place hope in international mediation. The seminar will highlight the urgency of inclusive political dialogue and greater global engagement to help break the current deadlock.
About the Speaker
Abdelmageed M. Yahya holds a PhD in Geography and is an associate professor at Sudanese Universities. He serves as the managing director of the Peace and Human Rights Center at the Open University of Sudan. Yahya has extensive experience in social studies, peacebuilding, and academic research, having collaborated with the Peace Research Institute of Khartoum University on several projects related to war-affected areas in Sudan. Since 2017, he has been selected as a member of the IGAD Roster of Mediators and has served as a peacebuilding consultant for various institutions, including UN agencies in Sudan. With over 20 years of expertise, his research focuses on migration, human trafficking, peacebuilding, and land and natural resource management. Yahya has also been part of the Norwegian-Sudan academic collaboration since 2010 and is currently involved in the Sudan Norway Academic Cooperation (SNAC) project.
Munzoul Assal is a Professor of Social Anthropology at the Universities of Khartoum and Norway and a Senior Researcher at the Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI). Prior to this, he was the Director of the Mamoun Beheiry Centre for Economic and Social Studies in Africa (2015-2017), Director of the Peace Research Institute at the University of Khartoum (2018-2020), and Dean of Scientific Research (2021-2022). Assal was a visiting professor at the universities of Paris 8 (2009) and Sharjah, UAE (2020-2021). His research focuses on migration, refugees, internally displaced people, and peacebuilding, and published several books on these themes. Professor Assal was a member of the Board of Trustees, the Arab Council for Social Sciences (2015-2023). In 2023 Assal was voted in as an honorary fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
cedejsudan (6 juillet 2025). Mediation and Peacemaking Dilemmas to the Sudan Crisis. Researching Sudan - A perspective on contemporary Sudan. Consulté le 12 février 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/14aeb
