As Sudan enters the third week of fighting between Sudan's Army  and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the world continues to call for peace and the protection of the general public. In addition, countries are working to evacuate their own citizens and Khartoum residents flee the capital, with the death toll continuing to rise towards 500 in these few short weeks. Sudan is one of the largest countries in Africa, in a region that is already experiencing several civil wars, and so it is important that this conflict ends and the path towards citizen rule is restored. In this talk, U.S. Institute of Peace's Director of Africa Programs, Susan Stigant, discusses about how the conflict came about, what the current situation looks like, and what the stakes are for the country, the region, and the world.

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About the Speaker

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Susan Stigant is the director of Africa Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace where she leads programming in East Africa and the Greater Horn, on the Red Sea Arena and with the African Union. Her thematic focus is on the design and implementation of inclusive constitutional reform and national dialogue processes.

Prior to joining USIP, Stigant managed constitutional development, citizen engagement and election observation programs with the National Democratic Institute (NDI). From 2005-2011, she served as program director with NDI in Southern Sudan, where she supported the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. She also worked with the Forum of Federations on comparative federalism and with the research unit of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament in South Africa.