About CCSS
Who we are, what we publish, and who leads the Centre.
About the Cognisance Centre
The Cognisance Centre for Strategic Studies (CCSS) is an independent, non-profit and non-partisan think tank working on Sudan's exit from war and its transition to a civilian, democratic and just state. It was founded in 2025 by Professor Mekki Medani El Shibly, an economist and former university vice-chancellor who has led Arab–African development institutions for four decades, and it is based in the United Kingdom.
Since September 2025 the Centre has published more than sixty analyses in English and Arabic, including two policy papers submitted to the Quartet on Sudan (the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates), a proposed Quartet Guarantee Framework, a concept note on using Sudan's resource trade to enforce a ceasefire, and a book-length political-economy study of Sudan's fifty years of structural adjustment.
What we do
We produce policy-relevant research and frameworks for ending the war, for the civilian–constitutional transition that must follow it, and for the reconstruction of the Sudanese state and economy. We convene dialogue across political, generational and disciplinary lines, and we aim to build a cadre of Sudanese analysts and public intellectuals inside and outside the country. Our work is organised in six programmes: Peace & Civilian Transition, Political Economy, Governance & Social Contract, Humanitarian Futures, Arab–African Partnerships, and Constructing Sudan, the long-form project that anchors the Centre's argument.
What we stand for
Sudan's collapse stems not only from military domination and elite fragmentation but from the absence of a coherent strategic vision and institutional memory. CCSS exists to help supply both: a legitimate, independent civic reference point drawn from the conscience and collective wisdom of Sudanese people, civilian in leadership, democratic in structure, just and inclusive in vision. We hold to independence, critical thinking, knowledge integrity, partnership with communities, and human rights.
How we are organised
CCSS is incubated under a UK-based fiscal host and will become a company limited by guarantee. It is led by an Executive Director, guided by an Advisory Council, and draws on a pool of Sudanese researchers at home and in the diaspora.
Who we work with and for
Sudanese civic actors, professionals and scholars; the policy and diplomatic communities working on Sudan; donors and advocacy networks; media, universities and the diaspora. We welcome partnerships with universities, research centres and civic organisations that share our commitment to Sudan's future — write to us.
Executive Director — Prof. Mekki Medani El Shibly · melshibly@hotmail.com