UN Assembly Sees Urgent Diplomatic Efforts to Resolve Sudan War

As world leaders converge at the United Nations General Assembly, a high-stakes diplomatic frenzy is unfolding offstage to halt Sudan's spiraling civil war—the planet's worst humanitarian catastrophe, with 40,000 dead, 13 million displaced, and 24 million teetering on famine's edge. Experts warn this week's talks could be the conflict's tipping point, two years after clashes erupted between rival generals in Khartoum, engulfing Darfur and beyond in bloodshed.

For the first time, Sudan's heavyweight external players—the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE—unveiled a unified roadmap on September 12: a three-month humanitarian truce to rush aid nationwide, paving the way for a full ceasefire and a nine-month transition to a civilian-led government. Dubbed the Quad, these mediators huddled Wednesday on the assembly's fringes to hammer out execution details, urging Sudan's Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to the negotiating table.

Parallel pressure mounted at a Wednesday summit hosted by the African Union, European Union, and foreign ministers from Germany, France, and the UK. Joined by Quad envoys, a dozen nations, the Arab League, UN officials, and IGAD's East African bloc, participants issued a blistering call for direct talks, condemning shadowy foreign meddlers and "non-state actors" propping up the carnage. The joint AU-EU-France-Germany-UK-Denmark-Norway-Canada declaration hailed the Quad's blueprint while vowing coordinated arm-twisting for peace, aid, and dialogue.

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UN chief Antonio Guterres amplified the urgency in his Tuesday address, blasting external backers for stoking the flames: "End the support fueling this bloodshed. Protect civilians." He spotlighted Sudan's atrocities—slaughter, starvation, and rampant sexual violence against women and girls—echoing the International Criminal Court's July findings of war crimes and crimes against humanity in RSF-held Darfur, save for the besieged North Darfur capital of el-Fasher.

The RSF's June bid for a parallel regime in its territories drew swift UN Security Council rebuke, deeming it a threat to unity and a war escalator. Sudan's Transitional Prime Minister Kamil El-Tayeb Idris, addressing Thursday's assembly, lambasted the RSF for "systematic killing, torture, looting, rape, and demographic engineering" to seize power and plunder resources. He pledged a homegrown path: ceasefire with RSF withdrawal from occupied zones like el-Fasher, inclusive national dialogue for fair elections, and openness to regional-global partners— all undergirded by Sudan's unyielding sovereignty.

Neighboring Chad's Prime Minister Allah Maye Halina painted a stark border portrait Thursday: over 2 million Sudanese refugees straining his nation's resources since April 2023, with arrivals unrelenting. "This crisis demands peace, not guns—through inclusive Sudanese dialogue," he urged, affirming Chad's neutrality and readiness to mediate. His plea spotlighted the spillover: Sudan's agony ripples across the Horn of Africa, demanding urgent global aid.

International Crisis Group's Alan Boswell hailed the Quad's consensus as a breakthrough but cautioned the real battle lies in swaying Sudan's battle-hardened factions. With the assembly wrapping Monday, these shadow summits represent a fragile hope: can unified diplomacy pierce the fog of war, or will Sudan's inferno rage on, devouring lives and legacies?

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