On February 5, 2025, at 2.30 pm EST, in Washington, DC, the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) is pleased to invite you to an in-person discussion: Sudanese Priorities for a US-Sudan Policy Agenda, to highlight what Sudanese policy priorities should look like for the US from the perspective of Sudanese advocates and experts. TIMEP is proud to host human rights lawyer and TIMEP Nonresident Fellow Mohaned El Nour; Founding Director of Confluence Advisory and Inaugural Yale Peace Fellow Kholood Khair; development practitioner, researcher, policy analyst, and former TIMEP Nonresident Fellow Hamid Khalafallah; and medical doctor and global health and humanitarian consultant Dr. Eva Khair. The event will be moderated by TIMEP Advocacy Manager Douglas Christensen.
This event is invite-only; however, we have limited seating available to the public. To RSVP, please send an email to TIMEP at [email protected] if you would like to attend, and we will let you know if we are able to secure a seat for you. A location will be provided upon RSVP.
In April, the war in Sudan will enter its third year. Some 150,000 people have been killed, more than 11 million have been displaced, and famine is occurring in five regions of the country as a result of the ongoing fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who are both armed by a number of external actors, including US partners. Despite this, the international community, including the United States, has failed to elevate Sudan as a policy priority, end the war and the resulting humanitarian crisis, and ensure the protection of civilians. Numerous attempts at peace negotiations in Jeddah, Manama, Cairo, and Geneva have failed, and Sudanese civilians and civil society have largely been sidelined from the process. In its final weeks in office, the Biden administration sanctioned RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa (also known as Hemedti) and SAF leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and determined that the RSF has committed a genocide in Sudan. With a new administration in office, it remains to be seen how US policy priorities on Sudan will look.
Panelists will explore questions such as: What are the policy priorities of Sudanese civil society and civilian leaders as the war in Sudan prepares to enter its third year? What steps should the Trump administration and US policymakers be taking to end the war in Sudan and the resulting humanitarian crisis, increase civilian protection, and bring about accountability for the mass atrocities committed by all actors? What role should Sudanese civilians and civil society play in future peace negotiations and peacemaking, and how can civilian voices be centered to secure a more durable and lasting peace?
Speaker Profiles:
Kholood Khair
Kholood Khair is the founding director of Confluence Advisory, a ‘think and do tank’ in Khartoum that works on governance, peace and security, and the economy, and the inaugural Yale Peace Fellow for 2025. Kholood also hosts and co-produces Spotlight 249, Sudan’s first English language political discussion and debate show aimed at Sudanese youth. Kholood has over a decade’s experience in research, aid programming, and policy in Sudan and across the Horn of Africa. She has also written analysis pieces for several international publications and has provided analyses for different research and policy institutions. Kholood holds an MSc from Oxford University and an MSc from the School of Oriental and African Studies.
Dr. Eva Khair
Dr. Eva Khair is a British-Sudanese medical doctor and global health and humanitarian consultant. With expertise in policy and international development, Dr. Khair has over a decade of experience working on Sudan, focusing on crisis response, civic and human rights, and humanitarian issues. She collaborates closely with civil society organizations and grassroots initiatives, driving strategies to effect change. Dr. Khair serves as a research and policy advisor on Sudan, advocating at both bilateral and multilateral fora. She is the founder and director of the Sudan Transnational Consortium, a global network of Sudanese professionals dedicated to peacebuilding, international advocacy, and addressing conflict and humanitarian challenges affecting Sudanese populations in Sudan, neighboring regions, and the diaspora.
Hamid Khalafallah
Hamid Khalafallah is a former Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP focusing on inclusive governance and mobilization in Sudan. He is a development practitioner, researcher, and policy analyst. Hamid is currently pursuing a PhD degree at the Global Development Institute (GDI) at the University of Manchester in the UK, researching democratic transitions and grassroots movements in Africa. Over the years, he has worked for various international and national organizations in Sudan on governance and development issues. Hamid is an alumnus of the Young African Leaders Program of the School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute in Italy. He holds an MA in International Development Management from the University of Bradford in the UK, where he studied as a Chevening Scholar and was awarded the 2019 UK Development Studies Association best dissertation prize. In his free time, Hamid has been active with various civil resistance groups in Sudan, promoting democracy and advocating for human rights.
Mohaned Elnour
Mohaned Elnour is a Nonresident Fellow at TIMEP working on religious minorities and freedoms in Sudan. He is a Sudanese human rights lawyer with 19 years of experience in human rights. Mohaned has represented prominent clients and collaborated with local and international NGOs. He has represented victims of human rights violations domestically and before the Human Rights Council, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. After his work as the legal analyst assistant for the European Union Election Observation Mission to Sudan in 2010 and the South Sudan Referendum in 2011, Mohaned established the Justice Center for Advocacy and Legal Consultations, which mainly focuses on freedom of religion or belief. Through the work of the center, Mohaned has supported victims of religious discrimination and built a legal network to defend the right to freedom of religion or belief. He has also trained human rights lawyers and defenders in Nigeria and South Sudan on human rights and freedom of religion or belief. Mohaned is currently the CSW’s consultant for Sudan. Mohaned obtained a law degree from Al-Neelain University and a master’s degree in International Law from Newcastle University.
Douglas Christensen
ModeratorDouglas Christensen is the Advocacy Manager at TIMEP. He holds an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and a BA in Government with minors in Arabic and Mathematics from St. Lawrence University. Prior to joining TIMEP, he was the Liaison for US Government Affairs at Arab Center Washington DC as well as a research intern with the State Department’s Bureau of Human Rights, Democracy, and Labor. He has published numerous policy papers with Arab Center Washington DC and has published an academic article in the journal Protest.