As Sudan burns, the continent’s leading institution watches from the sidelines.
In the sprawling refugee camps of Chad, in the bombed-out neighbourhoods of Khartoum, and across the vast expanses of Darfur where genocide echoes once again, a question haunts millions of displaced Sudanese: Where is Africa when Africa needs Africa most?
The numbers alone paint a devastating picture. Since April 15, 2023, when Sudan’s military forces turned their guns on each other, over 11.4 million people have been forced from their homes. An estimated 150,000 lives have been lost. The African Union itself has called it the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world.” Yet for many Sudanese, the continent’s premier institution has been conspicuously absent when its leadership was needed most.
Voices from the void
“Sudan is witnessing the world’s largest displacement crisis, over 10 million Sudanese have fled their homes. Nobody cares. The world is keeping silent,” says Galal, a Sudanese multimedia artist whose words capture the raw frustration felt by millions of his compatriots. His sentiment echoes across social media platforms where Sudanese voices desperately try to break through the global indifference.
On social media, the frustration is palpable and growing. @cunayee posted a direct challenge to the African Union on June 4, 2025: “The @_AfricanUnion has immensely failed in finding durable solution in Sudan, the AU must blow the whistle and collectively condemn the perpetrators fuelling the violence and conflict in #Sudan Act Now.”
The accusations grow sharper. @AbdiwahabSheik7, describing the ongoing atrocities in Darfur, declared: “The African Union and IGAD have failed their duty. Silence is complicity.” These are not mere political criticisms—they are cries from a people who feel abandoned by their own continent.
Perhaps most damning is the observation from @EIshmael_: “#Sudan is being iced out just like #Somalia was in the 90s, abandoned by its own continent. The African Union and IGAD wrap themselves in pan-African rhetoric, yet stay mute while a rogue Gulf state, the UAE, bankrolls and executes genocide on Sudanese soil.”
In Port Sudan, Dr. Hala Osman runs an under-resourced clinic treating malnourished children and amputee war survivors. “We are invisible to the AU,” she says. “There’s no African solidarity here—only silence and suffering.”
The Anatomy of absence
The African Union’s response to Sudan’s crisis reveals a troubling pattern of rhetoric without results. While the organisation condemned the violence in May 2023 and formed a High-Level Panel on the Resolution of the Conflict in Sudan in early 2024, these efforts have been described as “woefully inadequate” by former AU mediator Thabo Mbeki.
The stark reality is that when Sudan needed immediate action, the AU was relegated to being background actors and commentators with no impact. Instead, it was the United States and Saudi Arabia who brokered the few temporary ceasefires that provided even momentary relief to Sudan’s suffering population.
More than a month after the conflict erupted, the AU had not convened an emergency heads of state meeting. The cruel irony was not lost on observers: while Sudan burned, many African leaders were attending King Charles III’s coronation in London. The message was clear about where priorities lay.
A Timeline of missed opportunities
- April 15, 2023: War erupts between SAF and RSF
- May 2023: AU issues initial condemnation
- February 2024: AU establishes a High-Level Panel on Sudan
- February 2025: AU finally labels the crisis the worst humanitarian disaster globally
- June 2025: No AU-brokered ceasefire; no AU-led peace talks
The weight of history
The AU’s current paralysis cannot be understood without examining its troubling history with Sudan. The organisation’s past refusal to support the International Criminal Court’s 2009 indictment of Omar al-Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur planted the seeds of today’s crisis. Worse still, the AU endorsed al-Bashir’s fraudulent 94% victory in the 2015 election, legitimising a dictatorship that systematically destroyed Sudan’s institutions.
This historical complicity allowed the formalisation of the genocidal Janjaweed militias into the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—one of the main combatants in today’s war. The AU’s inaction didn’t just fail to prevent the current crisis; it helped create the conditions that made it inevitable.
Silencing guns—only on paper?
The AU has long promoted “African solutions to African problems,” and its 2063 Agenda includes silencing the guns on the continent. Yet this commitment rings hollow when not matched by action. Abraham Ename Minko observes, “The AU’s insistence on prioritising political solutions—such as its Roadmap for Sudan—rings hollow without the financial leverage to incentivise compliance.”
The Peace and Security Council, despite being the AU’s main conflict-resolution body, met only twice in 2024 on Sudan. “They issue communiqués while bodies pile up,” said a former AU advisor.
The cost of silence
The AU’s perceived silence has real consequences. Without strong African leadership, the conflict has become a playground for external actors pursuing their own agendas. The UAE bankrolls the RSF with arms and drones. Egypt throws its support behind the SAF, resisting Sudan’s democratic transition. Other Gulf nations look to Sudan for strategic influence.
Meanwhile, Sudan’s neighbours bear the burden of hosting millions of refugees without adequate international support. Chad, already one of the world’s poorest countries, struggles with an influx of Sudanese refugees while receiving minimal assistance from the AU or the broader international community.
The paradox of potential
The most frustrating aspect of the AU’s failure is that it possesses unique advantages that should make it the natural leader in resolving Sudan’s crisis. The organisation built trust through its successful mediation in 2019 after al-Bashir’s overthrow. It understands the complex regional dynamics involving Sudan’s seven neighbours and has insights into the country’s intricate political landscape that external actors lack.
Kenyan lawyer Njoki Oduor points out: “While the AU holds panels and drafts statements, Sudanese activists livestream war crimes daily. It’s the grassroots voices that cry loudest.”
A Continent at a crossroads
Sudan’s crisis represents more than a humanitarian disaster—it’s a test of African leadership and the AU’s credibility. The organisation’s inability to effectively address one of the continent’s most severe crises raises fundamental questions about its relevance and capacity.
The AU’s February 2025 warning about the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world” rings hollow when not backed by decisive action. Statements and communiqués cannot stop the bloodshed or feed the hungry. What Sudan needs is leadership, resources, and the political will to confront uncomfortable truths about external interference and internal failures.
The path forward
For the AU to regain credibility and help end Sudan’s nightmare, it must first acknowledge its failures. The organisation needs to:
- Move beyond diplomatic niceties and take concrete steps
- Establish a robust sanctions regime
- Coordinate comprehensive refugee support
- Leverage collective African pressure to force warring parties to the negotiating table
Most importantly, the AU must listen to the voices of ordinary Sudanese people who feel abandoned by their own continent. Their frustration, captured in social media posts and refugee testimonies, should serve as a wake-up call for an organisation that claims to represent African interests.
As one Sudanese observer noted, silence is complicity. The African Union can no longer afford to be silent while Sudan burns. The question now is whether Africa’s premier institution will rise to meet this historic challenge or continue to watch from the sidelines as one of its member states descends further into chaos.
The world is watching, but more importantly, Sudan is waiting. And time is running out.
