The Juba Peace Agreement
How Sudan's 2020 peace deal with armed groups reshaped the political landscape — and why it didn't prevent the 2023 war.
The Road to Juba
The Juba Peace Agreement, signed on October 3, 2020, was meant to be the capstone of Sudan's post-revolution transition. Negotiated in South Sudan's capital between the transitional government and several armed groups from Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile, the agreement aimed to resolve the peripheral insurgencies that had plagued Sudan for decades.
The key signatories included the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minnawi, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Jibril Ibrahim, and several smaller factions. The agreement covered power sharing, wealth sharing, security arrangements, land reform, transitional justice, and the integration of rebel fighters into national security forces. It was comprehensive on paper — over 200 pages — and was championed internationally as evidence that Sudan's transition was moving in the right direction.
