Two Years of Civil War and Humanitarian Disaster in Sudan

“[Sudan’s emergency response rooms] are mutual aid organizations that are crowdsourcing all capacities … and providing that to communities on the basis of accountability to people who need it most. And in my mind, this is the foundation that remains. If you ask, ‘What is Sudanese pride and nationality, what is the future of the country?’ It’s that, and that's the frontline response to this absolutely horrendous — and I think really for most of us, this shameful — situation that the Sudanese people find themselves in.”

— Susan Stigant, Former Director of the Africa Program at the U.S. Institute for Peace

About the Episode

April 15 marked the second anniversary of the ongoing civil war in Sudan, a conflict that has resulted in 150,000 people killed, over 10 million displaced, and an estimated 25 million at risk of starvation.

Sudan has seen civil war before in its tumultuous postcolonial history — but this conflict is different. Susan Stigant, former director of the Africa Program at the U.S. Institute for Peace, and Salah Ben Hammou, a postdoctoral associate at the Baker Institute Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East, explored the political and ethnic tensions fueling the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the impacts of aid budget cuts, and the difficult future task of rebuilding.

This episode was guest-hosted by Kelsey Norman, fellow for the Middle East and director of the Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program.

This conversation was recorded on April 15, 2025, ahead of a Baker Institute panel event on the war in Sudan, which you can watch here. Subscribe and listen to “Baker Briefing” on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Transcript

A full transcript of this episode is available here. This transcript was AI-generated and has not been through editorial review.

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Hosted by David M. Satterfield,  the “Baker Briefing” podcast delivers timely analysis on breaking policy developments and other critical policy issues of the day in conversations with experts at the Baker Institute. New episodes are released weekly.

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