600 days of War in Sudan:
Taking stock of the regional mixed movement trends, blindspots and future scenarios
December 3-4, 2024
Nairobi, Kenya
Download the Call for Participation
Overview and Objectives
Sudan is rapidly approaching the 600-day mark since the outbreak of war on April 15, 2023, with no end to the fighting in sight. With more than 2.3 million displaced as of August 2024 and border areas in Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya and South Sudan unable to meet the full scale of humanitarian needs, and with an increasing number of displaced Sudanese and third-counry nationals planning onward movements to locations farther afield that offer better opportunities to provide for their livelihoods, it is crucial that migration and displacement stakeholders and experts convene to reflect on the full regional scale of this displacement crisis and discuss joined-up policy and programming priorities.
The Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) proposes to convene a two-day, high-level conference in Nairobi to:
- Bring together the state-of-the-art empirical data and research on the mixed movement consequences of the Sudan war;
- Examine the challenges for (international) protection of Sudanese and third-country nationals within Sudan and the wider region, including existing national and regional policy responses;
- Analyze cross-cutting themes related to the gendered dimensions of this conflict and the impacts of food insecurity and looming starvation as a stress multiplier;
- Identify blind spots for research, policy and programming and explore future scenarios for onward movement and their implications for humanitarian programming and policy.
Backdrop
Since 15 April 2023, war in Sudan has ravaged the country, erasing the lives of entire communities, homes and livelihoods. Millions of people have become displaced, and many remain on the move in search of safety and protection. While initially internal displacement seemed a more viable alternative for many, with longer distance cross-border movements undesirable or unattainable for those intending to return in the foreseeable future, a prolonged stalemate in ceasefire talks and peace negotiations, further protracting the conflict, has prompted many to leave Sudan. Since the beginning of 2024, cross-border movements have been increasing more than internal displacement figures, demonstrating the desperation of people. After it was already dubbed the ‘‘world’s largest internal displacement crisis’’ in 2023, the UN called the situation in Sudan in early 2024 ‘‘one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent memory’’.
Demonstrating the regional implications of the war on cross-border displacement, as of 7 August, over 2.3 million Sudanese and third-country nationals have fled the country crossing into Chad (815,000), South Sudan (781,000), Egypt (515,000), Ethiopia (149,000), the Central African Republic (35,000) and Libya (96,000). Those who do not have the opportunity or means to depart face widespread fighting and violence, causing immobility and generating (repeated) internal displacement, insecurity and hunger. Reports of sexual- and gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls are rife, including in refugee camps across borders where many have sought refuge. In early August, after months of reported large-scale food insecurity, famine was confirmed in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur, while other areas in Darfur at high-risk. According to the UN, it is estimated half of the population of Sudan is facing a hunger crisis. Both warring parties in the conflict, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) have been accused of using starvation as a weapon. While peace negotations have been slow and unfruitful, the multiplying impact of multidimensional crises including active conflict, hunger and climate shocks (floods) are leading to Sudan to a ‘breaking point’, as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned in early August.
Target Audience
This conference seeks to engage a diverse range of actors central to a forward-looking discussion on mixed movement, including national and regional policymakers, donor country representatives, humanitarian practitioners, researchers, grassroots organizations and civil society activists. Moreover, the conference shall prioritize the participation of displaced Sudanese and/or third-country nationals from Sudan and their first-person accounts of the themes under discussion.
Priority will be given to actors working in or on Sudan and its neighbouring countries, namely Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, and South Sudan. The participation of actors working farther afield in countries hosting newly displaced Sudanese and third country nationals in East and North Africa and Europe will also be encouraged.
The overarching aim is to bring together migration and displacement stakeholders and experts who represent a diversity of experiences and perspectives and are highly committed to reflecting on the state of play and advancing a roadmap that can guide future policy and programming on mixed movement.
Conference Themes
The conference will be organized to critically explore the state-of-play with regarding to evidence, policy and programming on the following themes:
- Regional and route-based mixed movement dynamics linked to the Sudan war;
- Regional policies linked to visa regimes and access to asylum and protection for Sudanese and third-country nationals fleeing the war;
- Experiences, challenges and risks for women and girls and other highly vulnerable groups, impacted by the Sudan war;
- Food insecurity as a stress multiplier factor within a context of multiple crises and mass displacement in Sudan;
- Current evidence blind spots on the mixed movement consequences of the Sudan war and possible future scenarios.
How to Apply
If you are interested in participating in the conference, please submit an abstract of 300-500 words describing your proposed intervention and the conference theme with which it most aligns to esa@mixedmigration.org. Also ensure you clearly provide your name, contact details and organization/title. You are free to submit ideas for individual interventions or group panels/roundtables. In the case of the latter, please provide the names, contact details and organizations/titles of all of those involved.
Should you need financial support to attend the conference in Nairobi, including flight and accommodation, please indicate this in your application. Financial support is available for a limited number of participants whose organizations or institutions cannot support their participation. Support will be prioritized for participants coming from Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Sudan.
While conference participants will not be required to submit formal papers for the conference, we are asking all participants to prepare policy and/or programming notes of 3-5 pages based on their interventions and include recommendations for policy and/or programming. These will be made available to all participants and be turned into a conference volume and set of recommendations.
Timeline
| Launch of Call for Participants | 18 September |
| Deadline to Apply | 21 October |
| Notification of Participation | 28 October |
| Deadline to Submit Policy/Programming Notes | 25 November |
| Conference | 3-4 December |