New AU panel aims to broker ‘swift restoration of peace’ in Sudan

The African Union Commission has appointed three prominent African dignitaries to form a High-Level Panel on the Resolution of the Conflict in Sudan “to work with all civilian forces, military belligerents, and regional and global actors to ensure an all-inclusive process towards the swift restoration of peace, constitutional order, and stability in Sudan”.

In a statement today, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, announced the appointment of Mohamed Ibn Chambas, AU High Representative for Silencing the Guns to chair the panel. He will be joined by Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe, former vice president of Uganda, and Francisco Madeira, former Special Representative of the Chairperson of the Commission (SRCC) to Somalia and Head of the AU Commission in Somalia (AMISOM) and member of the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).

Faki’s statement points out that the appointment, which takes effect immediately, is in line with the conclusion of the AU Peace and Security Council through communiqué PSC/MIN/COMM. 1185 (2023) and in furtherance of the AU’s mandate and determination to entrench peace and stability on the Continent.

‘All-inclusive process’

“The members of the AU High-Level Panel will work with all Sudanese stakeholders: all civilian forces, military belligerents, and regional and global actors, including IGAD, UN, and the League of Arab States, to ensure an all-inclusive process towards the swift restoration of peace, constitutional order and stability in Sudan,” Faki says.

In his statement, Faki calls on “all Sudanese stakeholders and the international community to extend the necessary cooperation and support to the Panel members towards a successful execution of their mandate”.

IGAD summit

As reported by Radio Dabanga earlier today, the government of Sudan has suspended cooperation with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), after it included discussions on the situation in Sudan on the agenda of its upcoming 42nd Extraordinary Summit, scheduled to take place tomorrow in the Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it is suspending all engagement with IGAD. This decision follows IGAD’s “intrusive” inclusion of the situation in Sudan “without prior consultation”, and its invitation of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander, Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, to the summit.