Former AU and UN envoy: ‘Only Sudanese Can Save Sudan’

Former African Union and United Nations official Abdul Mohammed has urged the Sudanese people to take ownership of their country’s path to peace, warning that international mediation alone cannot resolve the devastating war.

In an open letter titled “Only Sudanese Can Save Sudan—Others Can Help,” published yesterday in the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker , he called for a grassroots movement driven by the people, not political elites.

“This war is not merely a military confrontation,” Mohammed wrote. “It is a war on your dignity, your identity, your communities, and your future.”

The letter, released to mark Africa Day on May 25, comes as the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues to displace millions and cause widespread suffering. Attempts at a ceasefire through talks in Jeddah, Addis Ababa,  and in Geneva have failed to end the violence.

Mohammed warned against placing hopes in “elite-led processes” that he says have repeatedly failed the Sudanese people.

“It is naive to keep repeating elite-led processes that have failed again and again,” he stated. “When peace comes from below, it can rise to the heights of history. When it is imposed from above, it collapses under its own weight.”

Instead, he called for a Sudanese People’s Peace Conference, bringing together ordinary Sudanese people, including youth, women, professionals, religious leaders, and the diaspora.

Such a conference, he argues, should be the starting point for a People’s Peace Agenda, a home-grown roadmap informed by those most affected by the war.

“Sudan’s destiny cannot be subcontracted,” the former envoy wrote. “Foreign actors may assist, but they cannot repair what they did not build. No outsider can love Sudan more than its people.”

Mohammed outlined seven steps to building a national peace movement. These include countering social polarisation, confronting the legacy of Sudan’s “forever war,” and using social media to amplify grassroots voices.

“Guns destroy bodies; polarisation destroys nations,” he warned. “Sudanese must not only stop the war—they must rebuild the meaning of being Sudanese.”

The letter ends on a note of hope, invoking the power of past people-led movements from Montgomery to Soweto, and reminding Sudanese of their own history of peaceful resistance.