African workers, under the umbrella of the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa), have rejected the dominant international framing of the crisis in Sudan as a civil war, insisting that what is unfolding amounts to an externally enabled proxy insurgency deliberately targeting Sudan’s social and economic foundations.
The workers’ organisation, while condemning the ongoing war in Sudan, described the impact as a catastrophic assault on civilians, workers, and communities, and demanded justice for victims of atrocities linked to the conflict.
ITUC-Africa position was made known in a statement issued by its General Secretary Akhator Joel Odigie following a high-level solidarity mission to Port Sudan.
The mission, undertaken pursuant to a resolution adopted at the ITUC-Africa Peace and Security Meeting held in Kenya in November 2025, involved direct engagements with Sudanese workers, trade unions, women, students, public institutions, and state authorities, with findings documented in the ITUC-Africa Sudan Mission Report.
Odigie said findings from the visit have been documented in the ITUC-Africa Sudan Mission Report, noting that the mischaracterisation of the conflict as an internal power struggle has contributed to international inaction, while masking the scale of deliberate destabilisation, mass displacement, and destruction of livelihoods.
“Sudanese workers and communities are bearing the heaviest burden of this war,” ITUC-Africa said, explaining that millions have been displaced, wages remain unpaid, businesses destroyed, and labour institutions dismantled.
“Electricity networks, hospitals, schools, water systems, banks, transport corridors, and housing have been deliberately attacked, rendering entire regions unliveable and deepening humanitarian suffering,” the statement added.
The statement highlighted harrowing testimonies from women who reported widespread sexual violence, mutilation, forced displacement, and terror tactics employed systematically as weapons of war.
ITUC-Africa called on the international community to reject false narratives, demand an immediate, permanent, and verifiable ceasefire, guarantee unimpeded humanitarian access, and pursue justice and accountability, including for external enablers of violence.
Beyond ending the fighting, the organisation stressed the urgent need for coordinated international support for Sudan’s reconstruction, rehabilitation, and reintegration.
It proposed an international summit on Sudan’s rebuilding, anchored in justice, accountability, and worker-centred recovery, with trade unions recognised as strategic actors in restoring labour markets, public services, and social dialogue.
Odigie said, “There can be no sustainable peace without justice. Accountability for war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and the systematic destruction of civilian life must be pursued at all levels. The International community, including the International Labour Organisation (ILO), must stand with the people of Sudan in their quest to shape recovery pathways grounded in dignity and decent work.”
By Michael Oche, Abuja
