Sudan Can’t Wait
Determined to finally end the war after two devastating years, Sudanese American activist Bayadir Mohamed-Osman has declared April 2025 to be Sudan Action Month. Here is how you can get involved.
Sudanese American activist, poet, and public health professional Bayadir Mohamed-Osman has coined a new rallying cry for what she hopes will be the final phase of the war: #SudanCantWait.
Two years ago, on April 15, 2023, the residents of Sudan's tri-city capital awoke to the sounds of war. After a revolution that ousted longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir and a counter-revolutionary coup by the military, the capital finally became engulfed in the worst-case scenario: armed conflict between rival militaries.
Since then, the country has been ravaged by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan' Hemedti' Dagalo. Both are trying to become Sudan's next dictator; neither is supported by the majority of Sudanese people who want civilian rule.
The war did not start in 2023, but it reached the capital for the first time and sent millions fleeing to neighboring states and countries. Those who chose to or had to stay have endured unimaginable horrors. In 2025, Sudan faces an unprecedented humanitarian health crisis.
According to the World Health Organization, 30.4 million people, including 16 million children, require assistance. 12.8 million people have been forcibly displaced. Famine has been confirmed in multiple areas of North Darfur. Malnutrition rates are among the highest globally, with pregnant women and 4.9 million children under five acutely malnourished.
While the capital is the political center of the war, Sudan's longstanding history of racial discrimination is causing the RSF, in particular, to wreak havoc in regions that are primarily non-Arab. In Darfur, the RSF is committing genocide. Throughout this war, both sides have committed crimes against humanity.
In recent weeks, videos of relieved Khartoum residents have flooded the internet as SAF, who many consider the lesser of two evils, retook the capital and liberated neighborhoods that the RSF has terrorized. These videos were a much-needed glimmer of hope, but the war is far from over. The RSF is known for ruthless reprisal attacks whenever they lose an area to SAF. Likewise, SAF also targets anyone they believe is aligned with the RSF. Sudan will only be free when all Sudanese people are free, which has not been the case since the country's independence in 1956.
#SudanCantWait
After hashtags like #BlueForSudan, #EyesOnSudan, and #HandsOffSudan, Sudanese American activist, poet, and public health professional Bayadir Mohamed-Osman has coined a new rallying cry for what she hopes will be the final phase of the war - #SudanCantWait.
"The movement is multi-disciplinary," Mohamed-Osman tells OkayAfrica. "There's no one right way to end this war. We all need to pick up the platforms and tools that we have."
Mohamed-Osman was raised in a family of Sudanese freedom fighters. When the war escalated to its current stage, she gave up her job to advocate for Sudan full-time. She has tried a wide range of approaches, from raising awareness through poetry and cultural events to helping donors bridge the gap between bureaucracy and grassroots organizing on the ground, to highlighting the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) complicity in funding the RSF.
On April 10, Sudan testified against the UAE to the International Court of Justice, accusing the UAE of being "complicit in the genocide on the Masalit through its direction and provision of extensive financial, political, and military support for the rebel RSF militia."
"The war has been framed as 'a group of Africans just going at it again' when in reality it's a proxy war," explains Mohamed-Osman.
Take action
Action days to end the war are being organized worldwide, from the UK to Germany to the U.S.. Wherever you are based, there are online teach-ins that you can sign up for or rallies, concerts, and fundraisers you can attend. Mohamed-Osman has compiled online and in-person events in her Sudan Action Month initiative.
"If you haven't said something yet, it's not too late," she says. "My biggest concern is that after we hit the two-year mark, people think, khalas, this will never end. But we're so close to some sort of ceasefire!"
If you are in North Africa, get involved with local fundraisers, check out Sudanese concerts and art exhibitions, and find out where you can donate clothes and other relevant materials to refugees. In Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt specifically, encourage your friends, colleagues, and family to educate themselves about the war and to have compassion with their guests. Sudanese people had a horrific time leaving their homes and lives behind; they deserve as much kindness and support as anyone else.
"I feel depleted," says Mohamed-Osman, echoing Sudanese from around the world. "But I know that's not an option for me when so many people are still on the frontlines. The youth on the ground have been creative, resilient, and innovative, saving lives, doing emergency evacuations, and creating hygiene kits with bare minimum resources."
"Two truths can exist at the same time," she concludes. "I feel depleted, extremely angry, and disappointed in the international community that has been complicit in this - especially the UAE. But at the same time, I have hope because I believe in the youth, and I can't give up on Sudan."
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