Nearly twenty years after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement – which led to South Sudan’s independence and the deployment of UNAMID, the first AU–UN hybrid mission – Sudan is once again at a critical and dangerous moment.

Since 15 April 2023, war between the Sudanese Armed Forces under Abdel Fattah al‑Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by Hemetti has devastated the country. Civilians have faced mass displacement, targeted violence and starvation, while both armed groups pursue a destructive struggle for dominance. Conflict is not new to Sudan, which has endured decades of civil wars and regional violence, including the Darfur War that killed over 200,000 people and displaced millions.

Regional and continental leadership once played a central role in mediating Sudan’s crises – from the CPA to the AUPD and AUHIP, and through UNAMID’s creation. Although imperfect, these efforts signalled strong African agency in seeking peace and justice. Since the outbreak of the current war, however, this leadership has been largely absent. Violence that once seemed confined to Darfur has rapidly spread across the country, including into Khartoum.

This fireside conversation brings together scholars, analysts and practitioners to examine why the optimism that accompanied earlier peace efforts failed to deliver long‑term stability. The panel will consider current conflict dynamics, the limited role of African institutions today, and how the continent might revive its agency to prevent and end wars and mobilise resources for lasting peace.

The event also marks the launch of a new book in the ALC’s series African perspectives on peacebuilding and leadership. In Peacekeeping in Darfur: The Dilemmas of an African Union‑UN Force Commander, General Martin Luther Agwai and Dr Akinbode Fasakin offer insights from Agwai’s term as UNAMID Force Commander. The book reflects on why UNAMID, despite its scale and mandate, struggled to deliver sustainable peace, highlighting challenges such as weak commitment, poor coordination and the absence of bottom‑up peacebuilding.

 

About the Speakers

Prof Medhane TADESSE

Medhane Tadesse is a veteran analyst on the Horn of Africa and an international expert on Security Sector Reform/SSR/. He played a crucial role in familiarizing the governance of security at both research and policy levels and served as Senior ASSN SSR advisor to the African Union/AU. He is a founding member of the ALC-T Board of Trustees and sits on the Executive Committee of the African Security Sector Network (ASSN). Currently a senior research fellow on geopolitics based at IMAF/IRD, Paris, Medhane is a visiting professor at African Leadership Centre, Global Studies, King’s College London and teaches at SciencesPo, Paris.

Dr Sonja Theron

Sonja Theron is currently a Lecturer at the University of Pretoria (UP) in the Department of Political Sciences and a Senior Associate Fellow at the African Leadership Centre (ALC) at King’s College London. Dr Theron was Programme Director for Research in the Centre of Mediation in Africa from 2020 to 2022. From 2018 to 2020, Dr Theron was appointed as the first Joint-Postdoctoral Research Fellow between UP and the ALC. She has also worked at the Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn) and as a consultant on various research projects related to peace and security. She recently published a book with Bloomsbury Academic Press titled Leadership, Nation-building and War in South Sudan: The Problems of Statehood and Collective Will. Dr Theron obtained her Doctor of Philosophy qualification from the University of Pretoria, during which she received the Commonwealth Split-Site PhD Scholarship, tenured at King’s College London.

Abdul Mohammed

Abdul Mohammed served as chief of staff and senior political advisor of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel for Sudan and South Sudan, chaired by Thabo Mbeki, former president of South Africa. He was previously the acting director of the A.U.-U.N. Hybrid Operation in Darfur’s political department, chairperson of the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation, and UNICEF’s representative to the African Union. He was the founder and executive director of the Inter Africa Group, a center for dialogue on humanitarian, peace, and development issues in the Horn of Africa. Mohammed has worked in various capacities for the World Council of Churches and the Church World Service and served as director of relief and emergencies for the Sudan Council of Churches. He has also been an advisor to the prime minister of Ethiopia on peace and reconciliation issues in the Horn of Africa. Over the last 25 years Mohammed has worked in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Kenya.

H.E. Ambassador El-Ghassim WANE

El-Ghassim Wane, Mauritanian diplomat, who served as Chief of Staff/Chief Advisor to the African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson from October 2017 to April 2019, was the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of MINUSMA. He was UN’s Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations (2016-2017) and AU Commission’s Peace and Security Director (2009 to 2015). He was recently appointed as Professor of International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, United States of America. He is also a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the African Leadership Centre and a Leading Practitioner on the Centre's Practice of Leadership Programme.

Retired General Martin Luther AGWAI

CFR Martin Luther Agwai was Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and later Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). He led the AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), commanding over 20,000 troops. He was the 13th Pro-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Nigeria. He has contributed to peacekeeping training and strategic security studies globally. He received the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies’ Visionary Award for his efforts in promoting peace.

Akinbode Fasakin, Associate Research Fellow

Akinbode Fasakin is an Associate Research Fellow at The Programme for Global Politics and Security (GPS) at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. He is the convener of the Africa Initiative. He holds a PhD in International Relations from Stockholm University. He was a Peace and Security Fellow at the African Leadership Centre, King’s College, London.

Kholood Khair

Kholood Khair is the founder and director of Confluence Advisory, a 'think and do tank' formerly based in Khartoum that works on three priority policy areas: peace and security, economy, and governance. Kholood also hosted and co-produced Spotlight 249, Sudan's first English language political discussion and debate show aimed at young Sudanese. Kholood has a career spanning the fields of research, aid programming and policy in Sudan and across the Horn of Africa. She has written research and analysis pieces for several international publications and has provided analyses for research and policy institutions worldwide. Kholood has and MSC in Violence, Conflict and Development from SOAS, University of London and an MSC in African Studies form the University of Oxford.

 

Moderator

Dr Shuvai Busuman NYONI

Shuvai Nyoni is a gender, peace and security researcher and practitioner. She is the Executive Director of the African Leadership Centre (ALC), Nairobi, Kenya. She has worked extensively with a range of regional and national policy makers, civil society actors and academics in post-conflict and transitional countries on the African continent. Shuvai has served as a gender advisor and investigator for sexual and gender-based violence as crimes in conflict in several Commissions of Inquiry including the Obasanjo-led African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan. She serves on various boards and in advisory capacities including as a member of the Tana Forum Technical Committee.

 About King's Africa Week

Hosted by the African Leadership Centre and Africa research group, Africa Week is an annual celebration of research, education and outreach activities on Africa.

King's Africa Week brings together academics, researchers and students from across King's – and offers the opportunity to hear from African scholars, leaders and thinkers. It also showcases King's collaboration with African universities and partners.

Find out more about Africa Week