IGAD Executive Secretary Dr Workneh Gebeyehu has concluded a high-level mission to Khartoum, marking the formal reopening of the IGAD mission in Khartoum after nearly three years of dormancy caused by Sudan’s civil war.
The visit, which wrapped up on Thursday, comes months after Sudan resumed full participation in the regional bloc following a January meeting between Gebeyehu and Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris. According to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the trip reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to a Sudanese-led path to peace and recovery, with the IGAD mission in Khartoum framed as the practical vehicle for that commitment.
During his stay in Khartoum, Gebeyehu held consultations with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, and with Prime Minister Idris. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development says the talks centred on the country’s security situation, the prospects for a political settlement, the strengthening of state institutions and the deepening humanitarian crisis.
Speaking to reporters in the Sudanese capital, Gebeyehu insisted that lasting peace could only come from Sudanese people themselves. He described IGAD’s part as one of facilitation rather than imposition, and thanked al-Burhan for his stated commitment to ending the fighting.
The reopening of the IGAD mission in Khartoum stands as the clearest outcome of the visit. Per the organisation’s statement, the mission will now serve as a platform for engagement between IGAD, the Sudanese government and the wider population, while also strengthening coordination with regional and international partners involved in Sudan’s recovery. Officials at the bloc say the restored IGAD mission in Khartoum had been dormant since fighting broke out in 2023, forcing staff to relocate and suspend most on-the-ground activity.
Sudan’s conflict, which pits the army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has split the country roughly along territorial lines since it began in 2023. The fighting has displaced millions and triggered what aid agencies describe as one of the world’s worst humanitarian emergencies. Sudan’s return to IGAD earlier this year followed the bloc’s condemnation of what it called violations committed by the Rapid Support Forces, alongside a pledge to defend the country’s unity and sovereignty.
Gebeyehu, in comments carried by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, called Sudan a founding member of the bloc and a strategic bridge linking Africa to the Middle East. He argued that the country’s stability carries weight far beyond its borders, shaping security across the wider Horn of Africa.
The reopened IGAD mission in Khartoum follows the earlier appointment of Rania Mustafa Hassan as acting head of the bloc’s mission to Sudan, a move IGAD had already flagged as part of its renewed diplomatic footing in the country. Analysts tracking the region say the practical test for the IGAD mission in Khartoum lies ahead, since reopening an office is a far easier step than brokering a ceasefire between Sudan’s warring factions.
IGAD said it would continue working with the Sudanese authorities, member states, the African Union, the United Nations and other international partners to support what it called a peaceful, stable and prosperous Sudan.
