African Leaders Urge Global Action to Stop Sudan War, Warn Against Legitimizing Coups

African leaders on Saturday called on the international community to intervene immediately to halt the war in Sudan and resolve the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, which has been ongoing for nearly three years.

The 39th African Union summit opened Saturday in Addis Ababa, bringing together heads of state and government.

The agenda includes the war in Sudan, terrorism in the Sahel region, and continent-wide issues related to security, energy, and water.

The two-day summit is examining developments in Sudan and the Sahel, as well as cross-border terrorism. Sudan remains absent for the fifth consecutive time due to the suspension of its membership in the African Union.

During the new session, the AU chairmanship passed to Évariste Ndayishimiye, President of Burundi, at a time when the continent faces complex dynamics ranging from peace and security challenges in several regions to active conflicts, including Sudan.
Most speeches by African presidents and heads of government focused heavily on the scale of the Sudan crisis and repeated calls for an immediate end to the war.

In his remarks during the handover ceremony, outgoing AU chair and Angolan President João Lourenço underscored zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes of power and cautioned against any normalization or legitimization of military coups across the continent.