Africa Today Seminar: Sudan’s Peace Agreements. Current Challenges and Future Prospects

Abdel Ghaffar Mohamed Ahmed is a professor at Ahfad University for Women, Omdurman and the University of Khartoum, Sudan, having previously taught at King Saad University in Saudi Arabia; the University of Bergen, Norway; and the University of California, Berkeley. His most recent publications include Sudan: The Root Causes of the Present Crisis (Cairo: Madaric Publishers, 2008) 2008); Understanding the Crisis in Darfur (Unifob Global, University of Bergen, BIRC, 2006) which he co-edited with Leif Manger; Peace in Eastern Sudan: Some Important Aspects for Consideration (Unifob Global, University of Bergen, BRIC, 2009); and African Pastoralism: Conflicts, Institutions and Governance (London: Pluto Press 2001) which he co-edited with M. Salih and Ton Dietz.

Events in Sudan are developing fast. Since independence, the country has been burdened with many problems that have hindered its economic, social and cultural development and while some of these can be attributed to colonial polices, many are the making of the post-independence governing elite. Agreements have been made to resolve issues of conflict but they have often been only partially implemented and have sometimes been abrogated by one of the signing parties. The country is currently at a crossroads and is facing the danger of disintegration if the latest agreement, namely the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, is not implemented on time. Scenarios for addressing the challenges and the country's future prospects can be entertained but depend on the goodwill of the major political actors.