NEW YORK — The UN Security Council and the African Union's Peace and Security Council have jointly rejected the establishment of any parallel governing authority in areas of Sudan controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in a joint statement from their 20th annual consultative meeting, held at UN headquarters in New York on October 23 and published by the African Union Commission on November 2.

Source: Sudan Horizon, Nov 4, 2026

The two councils affirmed that preserving Sudan's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity is an indispensable foundation for any future political settlement, warning that parallel authorities would deepen divisions and threaten the future of the Sudanese state. The communiqué also says there can be no military solution, and that lasting peace requires an inclusive political process led and owned by the Sudanese people.

Source: Sudan Horizon, Nov 4, 2026; London Daily summary of the joint communiqué, Nov 3, 2026

The statement strongly condemned the atrocities and violations that followed the fall of the city of El Fasher in October 2025 — including, in the councils' words, acts of killing, torture, rape and deliberate ethnically-targeted violence — and called for independent investigations into all violations and abuses committed in Sudan, with those responsible held accountable. Those are the councils' characterisations in a joint diplomatic text, reported here as their stated position, not as a court's findings.

Source: Sudan Horizon, Nov 4, 2026

For Sudan, the councils called for an immediate ceasefire and restraint amid renewed hostilities and ceasefire violations, urged all parties to protect humanitarian workers and allow aid to reach people safely, and expressed concern about worsening food insecurity and a growing risk of famine, particularly in parts of Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan.

Source: London Daily, Nov 3, 2026

One communiqué, four African files

Sudan was one of four security files in the joint positions, agreed after the October 23 consultation and an informal joint seminar on October 21–22. On eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the councils condemned the establishment of a parallel administration by the M23 armed group and called for it to be dismantled; the communiqué also addressed Somalia and South Sudan, and how future African Union peace-support operations could be financed.

Source: London Daily, Nov 3, 2026

What is solid

  • The UNSC and AU Peace and Security Council held their 20th annual consultative meeting at UN headquarters on Oct 23, 2026; the joint communiqué was published by the AU Commission on Nov 2 (Sudan Horizon; London Daily)
  • The communiqué rejects any parallel governing authority in RSF-controlled areas of Sudan and reaffirms Sudan's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity
  • It calls for independent investigations and accountability for violations in Sudan, an immediate ceasefire, and protection for humanitarian workers and aid access

What is only claimed

  • The communiqué is a record of the two councils' agreed positions — it does not itself deliver a ceasefire, dismantle any parallel administration, or establish that any party has complied with its calls (London Daily's own caution, reported here)
  • The atrocities it condemns after El Fasher's fall are the councils' characterisations in a diplomatic text, not findings of a court or of the independent investigations the statement itself calls for

What happens next

The test of the statement is practical: whether the RSF's governing structures in the areas it controls are wound back or entrenched, whether investigators get access in Darfur and Kordofan, and whether the ceasefire and aid-access calls change anything on the ground. The communiqué gives Sudan's army-led authorities a clear diplomatic text to cite — both councils on one page against a parallel state — but, as the councils themselves frame it, the political process they call for still has to be built by Sudanese parties.

Source: Sudan Horizon, Nov 4, 2026; London Daily, Nov 3, 2026