Challenges confronting higher education institutions during the ongoing armed conflict in sudan: An overview

Since gaining independence, Sudan has experienced considerable political instability, resulting in frequent armed conflicts. Previous conflicts erupted in distant regions from Khartoum, the capital. Khartoum is mostly secure from these conflicts and may be affected only by the conflict's side effects, notably internal population displacement. The current conflict erupted in the capital and extended to other territories, making the consequences of the conflict harsh at all levels. The question posed by this article is to what extent university studies can be disrupted by the outbreak of armed conflicts and the effects of the conflict on academic institutions, academic and non-academic staff, and university students. The article has three main parts. The first part identifies issues around the history of armed conflicts in Sudan. The second part discusses the beginning of higher education and its challenges. The third part of this article emphasizes the impacts of the ongoing armed conflict on higher education. The article is based on a review of secondary sources, including published academic research and grey literature. Secondary sources were obtained primarily from published literature from 2000 to 2023, except two resources before the mentioned date. The data for the article was especially collected between mid-April and the end of August of 2023.