Sudan as well as South Sudan both post 2011 have seen a rise in conflict in their region. Although in the case of South Sudan the large-scale violence ended in 2020 with the formation of the Unity Government, there still is conflict taking place in certain places but not to that large extent. Although the Unity government was formed, the process of development in South Sudan is very low.
In December 2024 country’s first general elections were to be held in South Sudan, but since the environment and appropriate systems were not in favour the elections have further been postponed. Being Africa’s largest refugee crisis South Sudan is today facing a severe hunger crisis; at the same time natural disasters have become more frequent and severe in the region. What this indicates is that there is a need for more cooperation among international community members in order to address the issue of Sudan, there are UN mission in South Sudan trying to address these issues but have not turned anything fruitful, as almost 60% of the population of South Sudan are expected to face crisis level of hunger.
But today one of the worst hunger crises in the world is being overshadowed by the two major conflicts in Ukraine and in Gaza. Being a landlocked country, the situation of Sudan requires more active involvement by international actors to help with the country’s development process. Since third party involvement is necessary in internal conflicts that end with negotiated compromise rather than a total victory. At the same time the citizens and the government have to make sure that aid and development is distributed and made available freely and fairly.
Looking into the role of international actors in Sudan one can trace back international interventions all the way to the 1972 Addis-Ababa agreement. Almost throughout its entire period of turmoil Sudan has seen international interventions in order to bring about peace in the region, which is pretty evident as the Comprehensive Peace Agreement saw the involvement of many international actors. But what makes Sudan so important for major powers around the globe. The answer to this lies in the very location of Sudan, having a 500-mile-long coastline along the red sea gives Sudan immense geostrategic advantage lying closer to the Suez Canal.
In today’s times Africa has grown to be an important destination for FDI’s around the world not only projecting itself as a consumer market but at the same time trying to export value added products thus seizing its rightful place in the international community. The Africa that we see today is much different then what it used to be years ago. This naturally leads the major powers around the world to establish a good political and economic foothold in Africa, same has been the case of Sudan as we see Russia, UAE and Iran actively engaging in Sudan by funding the two warring parties the RSF and the SAF with money, weapons and advanced drones. Most of these interventions have come to place under the disguise of Humanitarianism Iran and Russia are actively supplying arms to opposing factions. But UAE here is the most influential external actor in the war where publicly they support the cause to alleviate Sudan’s suffering while in reality it is the opposite. Russia with its war in Ukraine has recalibrated its foreign policy on Africa, through which they have been establishing cordial relationship with Sudan promising them weapons in return for Russian access to the Red sea coast.
All of these countries have their influence in the region is mainly due to the vacuum in power caused by the fighting of these two groups. This has worsened the situation of Sudan bringing it on the verge of complete collapse, not only this but the fact that the conflict that started in 2023 has aggravated the worsening conditions of its Southern neighbour. What is also of fear is that Sudan shares boundaries with Seven countries Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya and South Sudan which are all threatened by instability, which indicates that the collapse of Sudan would leave these nations increasingly vulnerable to similar political demise.
The need for a greater integrated Humanitarian aid, in large volumes is dire for the region. In the current 20 months of brutal fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is resulting in one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, where around 1.6 million people are either facing famine or the risk of famine. According to Eden Wosornu operations director of OCHA “the volume of humanitarian aid reaching people in need remains a fraction of what is required” the war has taken the lives of tens of thousands of, but the world’s attention to this is not enough.
Every day the chances of a child, a mother, a father or the entire family losing their lives to hunger is increasing. So can be said in the case of Juba which was facing its own economic, social, political and humanitarian crisis due to the 2013 due to the civil conflict, the result of which has only worsened due to the recent influx of refugees from Sudan since when the conflict began in 2023. Currently around 46% of the population is facing crisis level food insecurity which is only expected to rise. All communities in Sudan face the very basic of challenges limited services, no education, high rate of unemployment, poor infrastructure, overcrowded shelters and many more. To understand the situation upon which one feels deep sympathy for the atrocities faced by normal human beings many of them being infants and children who have no idea about what the situation is but have to face the repercussions of, only to harbour hatred for the society at large. Thus, the need of the situation is dire in order to help save the people of both the regions before there remains nothing much to save.
