Just as Sudan was on the cusp of democratisation and normalisation of relations with regional democratic partners earlier this year, their progress has tragically been put on hold since 15 April 2023 when the country exploded into violence, causing a refugee crisis, fear and instability. As power struggles between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary faction Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue with fragile ceasefires and mediation from foreign governments, we would like to examine whether and how peace can be restored and democracy ultimately achieved, by looking at geopolitical factors, internal social elements, and economic implications for Sudan and the region.

The Henry Jackson Society is pleased to invite you to join the discussion on Sudan where a panel of experts will be looking into the situation on the ground and how peace and democracy may be achieved in the country in view of the current circumstances, and in the event of a resolution of the internal power struggle.

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H.E. Mr. Radhouane Nouicer has held senior positions at the UN for over 30 years, including at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). He also served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for the Tunisian Transitional Government in 2011. In 2022, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk designated Radhouane Nouicer from Tunisia as his expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan.

Mr Nouicer has a wealth of expertise, including in humanitarian and refugee issues, and on the protection of civilians in conflict and post-conflict countries in Africa and the Middle East, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. He speaks fluent English, French and Arabic.

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Joseph Hammond is an award-winning journalist and fellow with the Center of Media and Peace Initiatives.

Joseph is the moderator the Commonwealth Africa Initiative and is also a member of the African Union’s iDove initiative – a grassroots youth effort to counter violent extremism on the continent. A former Cairo correspondent for Radio Free Europe during the Arab Spring, Joseph has also reported from four continents on issues ranging from the Arab Spring to the M23 rebellion in the Eastern Congo. His writing has been published by a number of publications including Economist, Al-Arabiya, Monocle, U.S News and World Report, Christian Science Monitor, Forbes, International Business Times, The Diplomat, and international editions of Esquire, and Rolling Stone.

As a consultant, Joseph worked for the Politico Focus, Oxford Business Group, Global Integrity, and has also worked on international aid projects related to conflict issues. In these roles and others, he has worked in Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Bahrain, Jordan, Ghana, the Czech Republic, and elsewhere. He was a 2014-2015 Fulbright public policy fellow with the government of Malawi. He has also completed fellowships and leadership programs with the Commonwealth of Nations, National Endowment for Democracy, Atlantic Bruecke, the Atlantic Council of the United States, Hollings Center for International Dialogue, International Centre for Journalism, the Heinrich Böll Stiftung North America Foundation and other institutions. He speaks enough Spanish and Arabic to discuss boxing – his favorite sport.

Dame Rosalind Marsden is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House. She is a former EU Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan (2010-2013) and a former British Ambassador to Sudan (2007-2010). During her diplomatic career,  she also served as British Ambassador to Afghanistan, Director for Asia-Pacific Affairs in the FCO and Consul-General in Basra. More recently she has worked as a consultant for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and for the UN Integrated Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).

Elizabeth Samson is an international lawyer and an Associate Research Fellow with the Henry Jackson society. Prior to joining HJS, Ms. Samson served as a policy and political consultant, as well as a Visiting Fellow at the Washington DC based Hudson Institute and a Consulting Director at the White House Writers Group. Ms. Samson has authored several peer-reviewed legal publications on topics of comparative international law and humanitarian law. Her writings have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Washington Times, and the New York Post.

Ms. Samson holds a Juris Doctor from Fordham Law School (NY-USA), an LL.M. in International & European Law from the University of Amsterdam Faculty of Law, a B.A. in Political Science from Queens College, and a Certificate in Management from the Wharton School.

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EVENT SUMMARY

The Henry Jackson Society was pleased to host an online discussion on the future prospects for Sudanese democracy in the wake of the current conflict. Our panel was chaired by Associate Research Fellow Elizabeth Samson, and consisted of His Excellency Radhouane Noucier, Joseph Hammond, and Dame Rosalind Marsden. The discussion was started by Mr. Nouicer, who detailed the extent of human rights violations in Sudan, and explained that they are not all directly the result of the ongoing conflict in the country. He outlined the weakness of state institutions and a lack of accountability and justice as contributing factors towards the current humanitarian crisis. Following this, Dame Marsden explored the various violations of agreed ceasefires and potential outcomes of the conflict, warning that the most likely scenario consists of an escalation into a civil war that highlights ethnic and religious cleavages within the Sudanese civilian population. She advocated for stronger pressure from the international community and regional actors, including the use of economic sanctions to limit the financial capabilities of both sides of the conflict. Finally, Joseph Hammond made parallels with his time as a journalist covering the events of the Arab Spring, and emphasised the civilian cost of the fighting that has already taken place across much of the country and has spilled over into neighbouring nations.

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