Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris presented a peace proposal to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday, seeking to end the nearly three-year civil war that has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, displacing some 14 million people.
Sudan Peace Plan Presented to UNSC
The North African nation descended into civil war in April 2023 following a power struggle between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo.
Recent massacres in Sudan’s Darfur region have drawn global attention to the conflict, prompting rights groups to call for dialogue to end the bloodshed.
Details of Idris’s Peace Plan
Idris proposed an immediate ceasefire in Sudan, monitored by the UN, the African Union and the League of Arab States. He also proposed a complete withdrawal of RSF troops from the territory it controls.
The RSF and its allies control roughly 40 percent of Sudan, including most of the Darfur and Kordofan regions, according to analyst Jihad Mashamoun. The group seized control of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, in October, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,500 people. The RSF also controls key infrastructure, such as the Heglig oilfield near the South Sudan border, seized on December 8.
The SAF controls the remaining 60 percent of Sudan, including the capital, Khartoum, eastern Sudan, including Port Sudan along the Red Sea, northern states, and parts of central Sudan. The SAF also retains air power and recently recaptured a town southwest of al-Rahad in North Kordofan state.
Idris proposed that RSF members, after withdrawal, would be placed in camps and vetted, with those not accused of war crimes reintegrated into society. He promised free elections after a transitional period aimed at fostering “inter-Sudanese dialogue.”
“This is not about winning a war,” Idris said, “but about ending a cycle of violence that has plagued Sudan for decades.”
RSF Rejection and Alternative Proposals
The UNSC has not yet voted on the proposal, and discussions are ongoing. However, Al-Basha Tibiq, adviser to Hemedti, announced that the RSF has rejected Idris’s plan, calling it “nothing more than a recycling of outdated exclusionary rhetoric.” Tibiq stated that the idea of RSF withdrawal is “closer to fantasy than to politics.”
Regional mediators, along with the United States, have been pushing for an alternative plan, which al-Burhan previously rejected, citing the United Arab Emirates’ participation as biased in favor of the paramilitaries. Sudan’s transitional government accuses the UAE of arming the RSF, allegations the UAE denies.
The Quad group – the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE – has been working to mediate between the SAF and the RSF. US Ambassador to the UN Jeffrey Bartos urged both sides to accept an alternative plan for a humanitarian truce, stating, “We urge both belligerents to accept this plan without preconditions immediately.”
Expert Reactions and Current Situation
Al-Rashid Muhammad Ibrahim, who leads the Centre for International Political Relations Studies in Khartoum, noted the plan’s clear vision and reframing of the conflict as an act of aggression. Political analyst Faisal Abdel Karim emphasized the need for acceptance by the RSF and support from international and regional powers.
Fighting between the RSF and the army has intensified in recent weeks, particularly around el-Fasher. The RSF claimed to have regained control of the town of Alouba in the Kordofan region, while the SAF reported destroying an RSF convoy in North Darfur state.
As of Wednesday, Sudanese officials reported that 1,700 people had fled to White Nile state, east of Kordofan, with many heading to Kosti. The city is already hosting about two million refugees and displaced people and is facing a lack of resources, prompting calls for international aid.
The RSF and the SAF jointly toppled Sudan’s civilian government in 2021, but tensions over RSF integration and control of the transition led to the current power struggle. The war has forced 14 million people to flee their homes, and about 21 million people across the country are facing acute hunger.
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