In Sudan, 20 months of armed conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Army (SAF) has killed at least 20,000 people and left some 25 million people, half of the country’s population, suffering from severe hunger , humanitarian assistance is in dire need. Meanwhile, 14 million Sudanese have been displaced, with approximately 3.1 million seeking asylum abroad, mainly in Chad, South Sudan, Uganda and Egypt.

As is so often the case, children bear the brunt of this brutal war.

According to the medical organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF in French), war injuries (such as gunshot wounds, shrapnel wounds and blast wounds) were treated at Bashar Teaching Hospital in South Khartoum between January and September 2024. About one-sixth of the population is 15 years or younger.

The medical team revealed that they recently treated an 18-month-old baby, Riyad, who was hit by a stray bullet while napping at home. They said they managed to stabilize him but were unable to remove the bullet from his chest. Amid ongoing conflict and limited access to medical care, Riyadh’s future remains uncertain, like that of thousands of other war-wounded, traumatized and orphaned children across the country.

Sexual violence is also common in Sudan’s conflict. A report released in October by the United Nations International Fact-Finding Mission on the Independence of Sudan revealed that forces commanded by Médecins Sans Frontières and the Sudanese Armed Forces had committed rape and other acts of sexual and gender-based violence. The report accuses both sides of using rape as a weapon of war, but says Médecins Sans Frontières is behind the “vast majority” of documented cases and is responsible for “large-scale sexual violence” including “gang rapes and abductions and detentions” victim”. Conditions tantamount to sexual slavery.”

Amid ongoing conflict, survivors of rape and other sexual violence have limited access to medical care, essential medicines and psychological support services.

Many people were injured, traumatized and homeless.

With war crimes and other atrocities committed against men, women and even children going unpunished every day, Sudan’s conflict has become humanity’s most brutal.

As the people of Sudan prepare to face a new year of hunger, hurt and fear, the international community, especially African organizations said to be committed to ensuring peace and stability in the region, has a responsibility to take meaningful action — including direct intervention.

Efforts to end the suffering of the Sudanese people through mediation between the warring parties have so far been fruitless.

Peace initiatives led by the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the United States, Egypt, and Switzerland have failed to achieve a sustainable ceasefire, a comprehensive peace agreement, or meaningful protection of civilians.

In May 2023, just a month after the conflict began, the warring sides appeared to have reached a key agreement in Saudi Arabia. They signed the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect Civilians in Sudan, agreeing to “always distinguish between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military targets.” As part of the agreement, they also pledged to “avoid any attacks that could cause collateral civilian harm” and “protect all public and private facilities such as hospitals, water and electricity facilities.”

The agreement was supposed to lead to a ceasefire lasting at least a week, but it ultimately failed to prevent atrocities against civilians, not to mention the relentless fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Médecins Sans Frontières, which even lasted for 48 hours.

No peace initiative has been able to end the massacre in Sudan since the US- and Saudi Arabia-led initiative failed some 19 months ago. In August, U.S. negotiations to end the war in Switzerland made some progress on aid access, but again failed to achieve a ceasefire.

Efforts to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table and appeal to their humanity to demand an end to attacks on civilians have clearly not worked.

More needs to be done.

In its harrowing report based on on-the-ground testimony, the United Nations fact-finding mission made clear what the country needs: the deployment of an international peacekeeping force to protect civilians.

“Given the failure of the warring parties to save civilians, an independent and impartial force with the responsibility to protect civilians must be deployed immediately,” Chande Othman, the U.N. mission chief, said in September.

Regrettably, the Sudanese government rejected this call, just as it rejected a similar call by IGAD in July 2023 to deploy regional peacekeeping forces. Khartoum’s military junta has been in power since seizing power from civilian-led transitional authorities. In the context of the October 2021 coup, any potential external intervention, including peacekeeping missions focused solely on protecting civilians, was seen as a violation of national sovereignty.

If the Sudanese government can provide protection for civilians, its rejection of outside intervention is understandable. But it is clear that after 20 months of a devastating war fought in defiance of international humanitarian law, no party in this war has the capacity or care enough to provide safety, security and dignity to Sudan’s embattled civilians.

Without the deployment of a regional peacekeeping mission backed by the international community that is committed and clearly tasked with immediately ending the ruthless attacks on civilians, the suffering of Sudanese civilians will not end in the foreseeable future.

Today, the international community, and the African Union in particular, faces a simple choice: remain passive as Sudan’s death toll continues to rise, or take meaningful and decisive steps – even if it unsettles the Sudanese government – to resolve the crisis .

This regional organization will lose any legitimacy if it chooses to stand by and watch innocent lives lost to senseless violence in a never-ending war.

Therefore, it is time for the African Union to intervene in Sudan’s war to protect civilians.

This would not infringe upon the sovereignty of the Sudanese state – nor would it constitute an act of overreach by the Union.

According to Article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union signed by Sudan in July 2000, the African Union has the right to “intervene in serious situations among member states, in accordance with decisions of the General Assembly, namely: war crimes, genocide and Crimes against humanity”.

The situation in Sudan is undoubtedly “serious” given the numerous violations of international humanitarian and human rights law documented in detail by UN missions and other agencies. There is no doubt that Sudanese citizens will benefit greatly from the physical protection provided by international peacekeeping forces.

While Sudan’s vast size and widespread warfare pose significant challenges to ensuring the safety of millions of civilians, the task is not far-fetched. By implementing effective planning and mobilizing sufficient numbers of troops, the AU has the potential to have a significant impact.

Sudan is a clear test of the AU’s ability to carry out and maintain its broad mandate.

It cannot continue to fail the Sudanese people if it is to realize its vision of “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force on the global stage”.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.