From Silencing the Guns to Building a Just and Sustainable Peace in Sudan
The International Day of Peace comes as the war in Sudan continues to claim lives, displace millions, destroy livelihoods and essential services, and tear apart the country’s social fabric. Violations against civilians have expanded, while hunger, disease, and displacement have worsened. At the same time, civic and media spaces are shrinking amid the spread of disinformation, hate speech, and polarisation.
Beyond its immediate humanitarian consequences, the war has exposed deep-rooted crises of governance, marginalisation, inequality, impunity, competition over land and resources, and institutional weakness. Ending the fighting is therefore urgent, but it will not, by itself, build sustainable peace.
SalaaMedia Center affirms that peace in Sudan remains possible. It requires genuine political will and an inclusive process that places civilian lives, rights, and dignity above military and political calculations.
The immediate priorities must be a cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians, unimpeded humanitarian access, and adherence to international humanitarian and human rights law. A ceasefire must open the way to a credible political process, not become a temporary pause that allows the parties to regroup and resume the war.
The peace Sudan needs cannot be reduced to an agreement among armed actors or a settlement that redistributes power without addressing the conflict’s root causes. Sustainable peace requires equal citizenship, dialogue, the rule of law, civilian government, accountability, equitable distribution of power and resources, and a national consensus on how Sudan should be governed.
Any peace process must ensure broad and meaningful public participation. Women, young people, displaced people, refugees, persons with disabilities, civil society, independent media, community leaders, and local peace initiatives must influence the process, from setting the negotiating agenda and proposing solutions to making decisions.
Despite the failure of previous initiatives, Sudanese communities have preserved powerful networks of solidarity, humanitarian response, and civic action. Emergency response rooms, local initiatives, women, young people, journalists, and human rights defenders continue to save lives, document violations, confront hate speech, and sustain community ties. These efforts are not peripheral; they are essential foundations for peace.
We call on the African Union and regional institutions to assume a stronger role in supporting a process guided by Sudanese priorities, in line with the principle of “African solutions to African problems.” This requires coherent and transparent coordination, broader civilian participation, and the integration of civilian protection, justice, and human rights into all mediation efforts. International partners must support these efforts without imposing solutions that disregard Sudan’s complex realities or privilege external interests.
There can be no sustainable peace without justice. Truth, accountability, reparations, and institutional reform must form part of the peace process. Peace must also address land, natural resources, environmental degradation, and unequal development: issues that have long contributed to violence.
The media carries a particular responsibility. Independent, professional, and conflict-sensitive journalism can counter disinformation and hate speech, amplify affected communities, strengthen accountability, and create space for constructive dialogue.
Guided by its pillars of peacebuilding, social justice, and human rights, SalaaMedia will continue to provide trusted, conflict-sensitive information; amplify community voices; support dialogue; counter hate speech and disinformation; and defend the right of Sudanese people to shape their country’s future.
Sudan does not need another fragile settlement that postpones its fundamental questions or prepares the ground for renewed violence. It needs a just, inclusive, and sustainable peace—one that restores dignity, protects rights, delivers justice to victims, addresses the causes of war, and opens the way for a civilian state that belongs to all Sudanese people.
Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is the presence of justice, security, freedom, and equal citizenship.
SalaaMedia Center
Giving Peace a Chance
21 September 2026