Sudan Update
Sudan is no place for Pollyannaish sentiment just now, but there are glimmers of light amidst the gloom.
Understandably, most international media has focused on those fleeing Sudan, the situation in Khartoum, and the fraught negotiations in Jeddah. Meanwhile, Concordis International continues to do what we do best; working at the local level with national staff and people directly affected, helping build resilience to conflict.
Our sixteen Sudanese staff are all safe, although life for them, their families and their neighbours has been tough, in Khartoum, in South Darfur and in West Kordofan. Our colleagues mostly shelter at home, darting out furtively to source food and water, and to check on their neighbours. But they’re also continuing to work, making calls and having quiet meetings with community leaders.
Largely unreported, several Sudanese traditional leaders have been taking a very brave stand, urging the protagonists to “Stop the War” and encouraging civilians not to take sides.
These chiefs know and respect Concordis, having been party to our peacebuilding work for many years. They’ve asked us to support them in this mission, travelling with them from town to town, village to village, persuading people not to fight and helping them find more peaceful ways to resolve their grievances, without becoming embroiled in the war.
It’s hard to overemphasise how important this is. At present, the war is, ostensibly, a fight between the soldiers of two military factions. Civilians have been caught in the crossfire, and a small minority have engaged in looting as opportunists or as a survival strategy. What will be catastrophic is if the civilian population start taking sides and begin fighting one another.
There is much focus on Khartoum, but in Sudan’s peripheries - Darfur, Abyei and the Kordofans - there are people from the same tribe, the same clan and even the same family who serve on both sides, with General Hemeti’s RSF and with General Burhan’s army, the SAF. At the time of writing, the RSF controls territory to one side of Nyala in South Darfur, the SAF controls the other.
If civilians are persuaded to take up arms and to send their sons to fight, there will be all-out civil war in Sudan, pitting neighbours, clans and families against one another. The prospect of that happening again, in this nation that we love, is genuinely terrifying.
We’re not going to be Pollyannaish about the prospects. We’ve seen war in Sudan before and we understand why people with the option to flee did just that. But Concordis is staying in post, doing what we can to lower the likelihood of conflagration and contagion. And we’re honoured to do that alongside brave Sudanese friends and colleagues.
How you can support our ongoing peacebuilding work during this very challenging time :
Spread the word. They say, “If it bleeds, it leads”, but we invite you to share this message and celebrate the brave work of Sudanese people, who are supporting their neighbours and working for peace.
Support us financially. To partner with us in this important expansion of our work, go to the ‘Donate Now’ section of our website.
And, if prayer is your thing, follow the exhortation of our Sudanese colleagues on the night they were displaced; “Pray for us; Pray for Sudan; Pray for peace”.
