Statement by the Executive Secretary of IGAD Third IGAD Meeting of Special Envoys on Sudan

Your Excellency Dr. Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary and CS for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Kenya

Distinguished Special Envoys and Representatives,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to Nairobi for the Third IGAD Meeting of Special Envoys on Sudan.

At the outset, allow me to express my profound appreciation to the Government and the people of the Republic of Kenya for once again hosting this important consultation. I wish to convey our sincere gratitude to His Excellency Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, for honouring us as our Guest of Honour and for officially launching this meeting. Your presence and guidance underscore Kenya’s enduring commitment to the pursuit of peace in Sudan and the wider region, and your steadfast support for IGAD in the discharge of its mandate.

I also wish to acknowledge the leadership of His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto. Kenya’s consistent commitment to regional peace and diplomacy, and its support for IGAD’s mediation responsibilities, continue to demonstrate the important role that Member States play in strengthening regional solutions through multilateral cooperation. Working alongside the Quartet, the Quintet, the African Union, the United Nations, the League of Arab States, the European Union and other partners, Kenya has remained an important pillar of collective efforts to advance peace in Sudan.

Allow me also to express our sincere appreciation to the Government of Japan for its generous support in enabling IGAD to convene this important strategic reflection. Japan’s partnership reflects a shared commitment to multilateral cooperation and to the conviction that crises of this magnitude require collective action.

I also wish to extend a particularly warm welcome to the representatives of the Track II mediation and facilitation organisations participating in this meeting. For the first time, IGAD has invited those who have worked patiently and consistently to provide trusted platforms for dialogue among Sudanese civilian stakeholders. Their sustained engagement has made a valuable contribution to the emerging political convergence we are witnessing today. We acknowledge their invaluable contribution to peace and reaffirm our commitment to work closely with them, both directly and in support of the broader efforts of the Quintet and our other partners. This reflects our determination to leave no stone unturned in bringing together all those working on the Sudan file so that we may benefit from our respective comparative advantages. We warmly welcome them and look forward to their valuable contribution to this strategic consultation.

Permit me also to recognize the distinguished Special Envoys and Representatives gathered here today. On behalf of your respective governments and institutions, you have invested considerable diplomatic effort in sustaining dialogue with the Sudanese parties, supporting the initiatives of multilateral organizations, including IGAD, and helping to preserve channels of engagement during an exceptionally difficult period. Your role as trusted interlocutors and your commitment to coordinated diplomacy remain indispensable. We deeply appreciate your service and look forward to continuing this partnership in a spirit of complementarity and shared purpose.

This meeting takes place at a moment of profound consequence. The peace and security challenges confronting our region have become more interconnected, more complex and more difficult for any single country or institution to address alone. Contemporary conflicts combine military confrontation, humanitarian catastrophe, institutional fragmentation, regional spillover and geopolitical competition.

Sudan represents one of the clearest manifestations of this new reality. The brutality of the war, its devastating humanitarian consequences, the fragmentation of national institutions, the growing external entanglement that further complicates domestic dynamics, and the wider geopolitical implications for the Horn of Africa and the continent compel all of us to rise above the ordinary call of duty. This is a moment that demands from every institution represented here the very best of our experience, our traditions of mediation and diplomacy, and our collective commitment to peace.

No single state, no single organisation and no single mediation initiative can adequately respond to the scale and complexity of the crisis. We cannot do this alone. We can only make a meaningful difference collectively.

That is precisely why multilateral platforms remain indispensable. IGAD was created by its Member States to advance collective security, regional cooperation and shared development. It also provides an essential platform through which partners can align bilateral efforts within a common regional framework.

IGAD has a proud tradition of serving as a platform for collective action. That tradition must continually renew itself. Our mechanisms for cooperation must become more organised, more strategic and more responsive to the changing nature of conflict.

The purpose of today’s meeting is therefore not simply to exchange updates. It is to develop a shared understanding of the crisis, strengthen strategic coherence, identify comparative advantages and reinforce complementarity among all mediation efforts.

Sudan has entered a strategic inflection point. While the military and humanitarian tracks remain constrained, sustained civilian engagement has begun to generate modest but meaningful political convergence around the unity of Sudan, preservation of the state, rejection of military victory, civilian leadership, constitutional legitimacy and Sudanese ownership.

We should neither exaggerate nor underestimate this development. It is not yet a political settlement, but it represents the most important political opportunity presently available. The Sudanese themselves must remain at the centre of the political process.

Our collective responsibility is to protect this emerging convergence while renewing determined efforts to end the war. The political process and the humanitarian and security tracks must reinforce one another.

This meeting is intended to strengthen cooperation between IGAD, the African Union, the United Nations, the League of Arab States, the European Union, the Quartet, the Quintet and all our partners. Each brings distinct comparative advantages. Together we can achieve far more than any one institution acting alone.

I am convinced that the cooperation represented in this room will make us more effective in helping the Sudanese people. Let us use this opportunity to develop a common narrative, a common strategic assessment and a practical division of labour that strengthens our collective contribution.

Sudan does not lack attention. It requires strategic coherence. It does not lack initiatives. It requires disciplined complementarity. Above all, it requires a Sudanese-owned political process supported by a united regional and international partnership.

Let us therefore use this consultation to deepen our shared analysis, strengthen our strategic coherence and translate our deliberations into a practical outcome that enables us to act in unison in support of the Sudanese people. I am confident that the spirit of cooperation represented in this room will help forge a more coherent and effective collective response. Together, let us reaffirm our shared determination to accompany the Sudanese people in their pursuit of peace, stability and a sustainable political settlement. I thank you and wish you fruitful and productive deliberations.