SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Devex - Sudanese authorities accused of INGO cash shakedown amid aid freeze
Devex report that, since the October 2021 military coup, Sudanese state ministers and officials have resorted to practices used by the former regime of dictator Omar al-Bashir, such as piling on bureaucratic procedures to extract profit and attempting to interfere in NGO procurements.
NGO leaders fear being kicked out of Sudan and contracting companies linked to the security apparatus if they do not heed requests from Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), staffed by security officers under al-Bashir’s regime.
NGOs attributed the practices to the freezing of international development aid in response to the coup, with donors pivoting funding to humanitarian organisations making them lucrative sources of revenue for federal and state officials.
Dorette Besser, who formerly led Conflict Sensitivity Facility in Sudan called for aid groups to receive adequate core funding and training to develop the institutional strengths to be conflict sensitive and sensitively navigate dynamics and volatile contexts.