MP John McDonnell highlighted the shocking scale of atrocities in Sudan and the near-total silence of the UK media, noting “the brutality of this one, the use of techniques and torture, mass rape as well. I think it’s shocked many of us… it’s almost been like a media silence all the way through”. He criticised the role of Western powers, explaining that “there’s no discussion of the reality of the role of western powers… the way in which they have funded [and] armed [the militias]. There’s no discussion of the reality that this is a proxy war… for control of resources, the gold, the agriculture, but also the strategic positioning of Sudan itself”.

He condemned the UK in arming the combatants: “we are complicit… in this barbaric oppression of the Sudanese people by both sides… giving them the very weapons that have been used in the massacres”.

On refugees, he condemned the UK’s treatment of Sudanese asylum seekers and the absence of safe routes, asking pointedly: “If a safe and secure route is fine for Ukrainians, what is the distinction with the Sudanese? Is it their ethnicity? Is it the colour of their skin?” He called for an urgent, dedicated Sudanese refugee scheme, alongside sanctions, asset seizures, and accountability for war crimes, insisting that “these war crimes, these war criminals will be convicted”.

He concluded with a call for justice and accountability: “make it clear that all of those that perpetrate… these war crimes… will be held to account”.

Louise Regan opened the conference by situating Sudan firmly within the tradition of international trade union solidarity, a commitment to supporting struggles for, “freedom from persecution and discrimination, and critically the right to say in how people are governed”. She underlined the catastrophic scale of Sudan’s crisis, noting that Sudan has topped the International Rescue Committee’s emergency watch list for two consecutive years and now represents, “the largest recorded and fastest displacement crisis in the world”.

She highlighted how over two years of war have displaced more than 12 million people, pushed over half the population into need of humanitarian aid, and brought the healthcare system “to the brink of collapse”. As an education union leader, she condemned the fact that “children have not had access to education over the last two years”, alongside escalating sexual and gender-based violence against women.

Regan reaffirmed the NEU’s political stance, stating that the union has “condemned the military coups”, opposed state-controlled unions, and called on the UK government to “support Sudanese refugees, provide safe passage, and stop arms sales that fuel the conflict”. She explicitly linked Sudan and Palestine as struggles rooted in “historical colonialism, imperialistic interference, and ongoing violence”.

Quoting the Palestinian BDS National Committee, she warned that it is “no coincidence” that tactics used in Gaza are being repeated in Sudan, including “sieges of cities, deliberate attacks on hospitals, starvation as a weapon of war, and the systematic targeting of civilians”. She concluded with a clear commitment: “We will continue to stand in solidarity… until all Sudanese people can enjoy the human rights and democratic freedoms to which they are entitled”.

Mohaned Elnour delivered a powerful call for justice, solidarity, and resistance against imperialism and the ongoing war in Sudan. He emphasised that “every migrant has the right – here to stay here to fight!” and condemned the violence between the Sudanese militias – the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – describing the conflict as “a war on civilians rather than a war between two parties”. He highlighted horrific atrocities in El Fasher, including mass killings, sexual violence, and widespread destruction, stressing that both SAF and RSF have systematically targeted civilians: “The UN fact-finding mission has stated that these crimes, by both RSF and SAF, may amount to war crimes”.

Mohaned connected the war to international complicity, naming regional and global actors that prolong it, including the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and British imperialism. He argued forcefully that “support for the SAF in this war is a reactionary position to take”, framing the fight for Sudan’s freedom as inseparable from anti-imperialist struggle. He underscored the importance of resisting attempts to divide solidarity movements, highlighting the crucial role of global solidarity in pressuring governments and institutions complicit in the conflict.

Celebrating the resilience of the Sudanese people, he affirmed that “the revolution is our path; we will never betray our glorious martyrs who gave their lives to pave this path”. Mohaned concluded with practical calls for action: signing petitions demanding human rights accountability, calling for the immediate release of detained Sudanese nationals, and supporting campaigns targeting arms factories fuelling the war. His speech resonated as both a testament to courage and a direct challenge to those enabling oppression, underlining that international solidarity must be active, principled, and grounded in the voices of those on the frontlines.

AbuBakr Adam highlighted the devastating impact of the war on Sudanese journalists, marking “one thousand days of armed conflict, atrocities, and systemic violation of rights”. He stressed that journalists are on the frontlines: “Without institutions, without legal protection, and in the face of two militarised actors—the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—journalists have been treated not as civilians under international humanitarian law, but as combatants, suspects, and political actors”.

The war has destroyed professional foundations, leaving journalists displaced, dispossessed, and jobless. Media institutions were “looted, occupied, or destroyed… eliminating not only the physical infrastructure of journalism, but the economic basis of an entire profession”. The conflict has directly targeted reporters: “In March 2025, four members of Sudan TV—including photographer Magdi Abdel Rahman—were killed by a drone strike while covering the SAF takeover of the Presidential Palace in Khartoum”.

Adam underscored systematic oppression: “Violence against journalists has become systematic, organised, and normalised… amid a complete absence of accountability and continuing impunity”. Women journalists faced a dual burden: gender-based constraints layered on top of war-related violence. They were targeted through arrest, defamation, and intimidation, while also navigating restrictive social contexts that limited access to protection, evacuation, and financial support.

Adam concluded that protecting journalists is essential: “Three years into the war, Sudanese journalists are struggling to document and carry out their work in truth-seeking and truth telling. Protecting them… is a prerequisite for justice, accountability, and any meaningful reconstruction of Sudan’s civic life”.

2. Workshop Sessions

Participants moved into three thematic workshop streams designed to deepen collective understanding and identify actionable strategies:

Dr Amira Osman highlighted the hidden and multi-faceted abuse faced by women, explaining that “people talk about sexual violence, but there are different types of violence against women”, many of which remain invisible. She described how some women were institutionalised or forced into extreme hardship with their children, yet despite these abuses, women have demonstrated remarkable resilience and solidarity.

Osman emphasised women’s active role in emergency response, legal aid, and humanitarian networks, providing food, healthcare, psychological support, and advocacy. She noted that women are also advancing education and digital activism, particularly in refugee communities, striving “to do something for those children who are missing education, for women who need some kind of advocacy”. Their activism extends across borders, connecting with other communities, including Palestinians and Iranians, to build solidarity networks that strengthen international support for Sudan.

She highlighted that women in Sudan continue to balance survival with activism. Even amid violence and war, they strive to sustain their families while participating in revolutionary action: “Women, despite the violence of the market, the violence in the streets, they were able… to make some kind of living”. Dr Osman stressed that this dual role of caregiving and activism demonstrates courage, resilience, and commitment to community, both locally and internationally.

Her presentation concluded with a recognition of the vital contribution of women in making war visible and fostering solidarity: women are not passive victims—they are “resistant, survivors, and active builders of peace and justice”.

Rakie Ayola, producer and three-time BAFTA-award-winning actress, spoke with humility, clarity, and urgency, positioning herself not as an expert but as a learner committed to solidarity. “I’m here to learn as much as I am anything else really”, she said, asking directly how those present could “actively support the women of Sudan”. The immediate answers—“raise awareness” and “fundraising”—were affirmed, but Ayola pushed further, insisting that awareness must be paired with action.

Drawing parallels with Palestine, she highlighted the gendered nature of violence, noting that the targeting of women in Sudan echoes Gaza, where women are targeted “because of their reproductive capacity”, stressing that “the same sorts of things are happening in Sudan as well”. She emphasised the importance of keeping alive the revolutionary vision of Sudan, particularly its potential to transform women’s lives.

Ayola identified a central challenge facing the movement: people know atrocities are happening, but ask, “What the hell can I do about it?” While donation is vital, she argued that people also want to know how to “stop more awful things happening”. She stressed the need to clearly identify perpetrators and give people practical, tangible actions they can take at home, however small.

She also spoke powerfully about inclusion, warning that movements must not alienate potential allies. “We need to give people something tangible”, she concluded, because when people feel they can act, “that’s how they will engage”.

Rania Obead powerfully highlighted the historic and ongoing role of Sudanese women as fighters, leaders, and pillars of resistance. She declared that Sudanese women are “not just a victim of rape and other things, but also they are a fighter. They are queens. They are survivors, and they are also in the front line of the December revolution”. Tracing their activism back decades, she noted that the fight for women’s rights in Sudan dates to 1952, when women secured equal rights and engaged in political movements despite systemic oppression.

Obead emphasised that the oppression of women is deep-rooted, shaped by wars such as Darfur and ongoing systemic targeting, including sexual violence. She highlighted women’s resilience in wartime, noting that despite “the horrible situation… millions of women leave their homes, many are raped, many can’t reach even the basic health care services”, they continue to lead grassroots organising, run resistance committees, manage communication networks, and sustain communities under extreme conditions. During the December Revolution, “70% of the people on the street are women”, many wearing vibrant colours to signal defiance, resilience, and hope.

She underlined women’s central role in survival and revolutionary action: “Women are still fighting. Women are still making the resistance a reality. Women still want to make revolution that they want to change the situation”. Obead concluded that the Sudanese revolution lives on through women’s courage, determination, and unwavering leadership, inspiring both change in Sudan and solidarity across the world.

Dr Yasser Abdelhafeez, Vice President of the Sudan Doctors Union–UK, delivered a stark account of Sudan’s unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, thanking MENA Solidarity and stressing the urgency of international action. He described the situation as “an unprecedented humanitarian emergency”, with “over 30 million people… displaced” and “nearly 20 million people” in daily need of life-saving assistance, while global funding remains “dangerously insufficient”.

Focusing on healthcare, Abdelhafeez explained that the health system has been “systematically targeted”. Citing the World Health Organization, he noted that there have been “more than 200 violent attacks on healthcare facilities”, resulting in “over 1,800 deaths”, alongside the detention, torture, and killing of health workers “simply for doing their jobs”. As a result, the system has “collapsed almost entirely at the grassroots level”.

Yet he emphasised that communities have stepped in. “When systems collapse, communities step in”, he said, stressing that “mutual aid is power, and collective care is resistance”. Since the December Revolution, the Sudan Doctors Union has supported hospitals, rebuilt healthcare centres, established a blood bank in West Kordofan, and delivered life-saving equipment across Sudan and in refugee settings, all in partnership with local responders.

Abdelhafeez highlighted the union’s global solidarity work, transforming professional networks into “life-saving action”, and outlined a simple vision: “one struggle, one goal, collective power”. He concluded by calling for protection of health workers, direct funding for community-led healthcare, and accountability for violations, insisting that “safety matters. Survival matters”.

Donations to the Sudanese Doctors Union could be paid via this link.

Maria Chondrogianni, representing the Post-16 Education Union (UCU), delivered a powerful call to action, grounding her remarks in the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan. She opened by stressing the hidden but catastrophic scale of the crisis: “The worst humanitarian crisis in the world… famine, insecurity, genocide, displacement is taking place also in Sudan”, and criticised the media for failing to bring global attention to it. Chondrogianni highlighted the systematic impact on children, demanding basic human rights including food, water, peaceful sleep, and education. “We need to demand to keep on hearing about it, and we need to demand to put an end to it”, she insisted.

She emphasised the destruction of Sudan’s educational infrastructure, noting that universities—historically central to national unity and development—have been devastated. Sudan’s 62 universities, serving over 600,000 students and 20,000 staff, face disruption due to attacks and displacement. Students in safer zones continue studies through hybrid models, but access is limited by poor internet and financial hardship. Chondrogianni warned of the severe psychological toll: trauma, anxiety, and family hardship compound the crisis, further marginalising education.

Linking local and international solidarity, she invoked global trade union support: “Educators and education-related organisations across the globe… have repeatedly called for all parties to ensure that education facilities are protected”. She concluded with a call to action rooted in solidarity: UCU supports Sudanese demands for “an immediate ceasefire, immediate humanitarian aid, and the cancelling of Sudan debt”, stressing that “as trade unionists, we have a duty to make these demands a reality”.

Dr Huda Mahmoud, speaking from her experience in Palestinian grassroots activism, delivered a compelling account of practical solidarity and healthcare support. She highlighted the critical importance of supporting communities on the ground, stating, “It is not to take over, it is not to dictate, it is to add and establish layers of defence and support”.

Mahmoud stressed that these efforts focus on real needs identified by the communities themselves: “Never a decision about me without me. We’re here… to listen and to support”. Examples included teaching civilians how to control bleeding, care for newborns, and prevent deaths from cold exposure. Mahmoud noted the importance of flexibility and adaptation in the face of blockades and resource shortages, describing how pre-hospital aid had to teach communities to fend for themselves with what little they had.

Using examples from Palestine, she argued that Sudan could benefit from these models, including virtual training of allied healthcare professionals to rapidly scale community support. Concluding with a practical vision for Sudan, she outlined how virtual and on-the-ground training of civilians and allied healthcare workers can rapidly expand community capacity: “Doctors teach virtually… who will in turn go out and teach the community”. Mahmoud’s address underlined the power of grassroots solidarity, practical action, and listening to those directly affected.

3. Cultural Performance

Performers: Jumana Eltgani & Ahmed Allord

The midday interlude featured a cultural performance from Sudanese artists — music, poetry, and expressive arts that reflected both the beauty of Sudanese heritage and the resilience of its people in the face of violence and displacement. Soulful guitar performances, accompanied by songs and poetry, provided a moment of collective reflection, reinforcing the emotional stakes of the political work being discussed and reminding delegates of the human reality behind the statistics and policies. The performances created a space to connect with Sudan’s culture and struggle, blending art and activism to strengthen solidarity across the conference.

4. Final Plenary: Building Solidarity — Organising Against Racism, War and Destruction

Chair: Miriam Scharf
Speakers: Kirsten Bayes (Outreach Coordinator at Campaign Against Arms Trade and member of its Board of Directors); ; Shabbir Lakha (National Officer, Stop the War); Mashair Saeed (Activist, Sudanese Women for Peace); Ginnette Gantshuk (Chair of the National Trade Union Side (NTUS) in HMPPS, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)); Dr Luigi Pivano (SI Cobas union (Italy)); Khalid Sidahmed (MENA Solidarity)

The closing plenary focused on translating knowledge and solidarity into coordinated action. Speakers explored how to strengthen collaborations between trade unions, anti‑war campaigns, anti‑racism organisers and grassroots solidarity movements. The emphasis was on strategic campaigning — from mobilising on UK streets to linking Sudan’s struggle with global movements for justice and peace.

5. Statement and Voting Process

At the culmination of the final session, delegates deliberated and voted on the Sudan Solidarity Conference 2026: Statement and Demands. The statement clearly articulated the collective position of attendees regarding:

The Sudan Solidarity Conference 2026 has brought together trade unionists and activists from Sudan, Britain, and beyond to demand an immediate end to the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—a war that is tearing Sudan apart and threatening regional and international peace.

Since the outbreak of the war in April 2023, following the counter-revolution against the 2018 revolution, both forces have displaced nearly 15 million people, killed hundreds of thousands, and destroyed Sudan’s infrastructure, health and education systems, and cultural heritage. Starvation, denial of medicine, the destruction of communication systems, and rape have been used as weapons of war. Revolutionary forces, trade unionists, activists, politicians, and all those who oppose the war have been deliberately targeted.

We note that both the SAF and the RSF were deployed as mercenaries to Yemen on behalf of Gulf states and that they jointly overthrew Sudan’s legitimate transitional government in 2021. For decades, both forces have committed genocide and crimes against humanity. The SAF controls over 82% of stolen wealth held outside Sudan’s economy, while the RSF controls vast resources, technology, and financial empires. We therefore recognise both fighting forces as militias.

We condemn the role of imperialist powers, including Russia, the European Union, the United States, and the British government, assisted by the African Union in undermining Sudan’s 2018 revolution, and their continued direct and indirect provision of arms, political support, and diplomatic cover to both militias via regional powers such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Eritrea, Chad, and other neighbouring states.

We stand in full solidarity with the Sudanese people in their struggle to end the war and establish civilian, democratic rule. We also express solidarity with all refugees and migrants and reject the British government’s racist and hostile rhetoric and policies.

As participants in the Sudan Solidarity Conference 2026, we commit to working together to:

• Stop the war in Sudan.
• End all arms sales, military cooperation, and security assistance, and mobilise against arms factories and related sites complicit in wars in Sudan, Palestine, Congo, and the wider region.
• Demand that the British government oppose and sanction all states, corporations, and entities supplying weapons, funding militias, or profiting from Sudan’s war.
• Expose the crimes and narratives of the SAF and the RSF and reject any attempt to legitimise them.
• Recognise Sudanese resistance committees, emergency response rooms, independent trade unions, women’s organisations, and professional associations as legitimate political actors.
• Build active solidarity against racism and defend refugees and migrants by organising within the UK’s anti-racist and anti-fascist movement and actively mobilising for the Together Alliance protest on 28 March.
• Link the struggle in Sudan with the Palestine solidarity movement and wider anti-racist, anti-imperialist, climate justice, and workers’ movements through conferences, demonstrations, and passing motions at union branches and workplaces on Sudan’s situation.
• Trade unions to share this Conference Statement and Demands with their members, publish it through their websites and social media channels.
• Join with MENA Solidarity in taking action by submitting a public copy to the UK government.

As MENA Solidarity and conference participants, we will continue to stand with Sudan’s revolutionary forces and remain organised against the systems that profit from war, displacement, and human suffering.

Download the full PDF of the Statement and Demands to read and share.

Attendees in person and online voted, endorsing the statement. Following the vote, delegates committed to advancing its demands through union branches, public campaigns, demonstrations and policy advocacy.

6. Next Steps and Action Points

The conference concluded with a clear set of next steps:

1. Mobilise for the Together Alliance Protest on 28 March 2026 — building a mass anti‑war demonstration that centres Sudan alongside global struggles against war and racism.
2. Distribute the Statement and Demands across union structures, workplaces, community groups and online networks.
3. Organise Sudan‑focused meetings and events within unions and community organisations to deepen understanding, develop campaigns, and pass solidarity motions.
4. Engage with policy and elected representatives to advocate against arms sales, discriminatory refugee policies and international complicity in Sudan’s war.
5. Coordinate ongoing solidarity work linking Sudan with Palestine and other struggles against imperialism, racism and militarism.

The conference closed, thanking the speakers, organisers, cultural performers and all attendees whose participation strengthened the collective commitment to justice, peace and international solidarity.

7. Acknowledgements and Thanks

MENA Solidarity thanks everyone who donated and contributed to our conference. We are grateful to all the speakers for sharing their insights, experience, and commitment, and to the facilitators, volunteers, and technical team whose hard work made the conference possible. We also thank Sudanese activists and community members in the diaspora, whose tireless organising continues to fight for justice, accountability, and democratic civilian rule in Sudan.

We are particularly grateful to the trade unions and councils, campaigns, and organisations that supported the conference, mobilised their members, and helped amplify the call to end the war, hold those responsible to account, and secure democratic civilian rule. Thanks also to the organisations that hosted stalls, shared materials and ways to get involved. Our thanks also go to the cultural contributors and musicians whose performances reminded us of the power of culture, memory, and resistance, creating a space of solidarity, reflection, and shared humanity.

Finally, we thank everyone who attended, both in person and online, and who engaged in discussion and the collective endorsement of the Statement and Demands. The unanimous vote reflected not only agreement on the text, but a shared commitment to turn solidarity into action in the months ahead.

Thanks to photographers Maab and @aaprp_britain for capturing the spirit and energy of the conference.

We look forward to continuing this work together in solidarity with the people of Sudan.