SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Foreign Policy - Why Won’t Biden Support Sudan’s Democracy Movement?

7/1/2022: Foreign Policy - Why Won’t Biden Support Sudan’s Democracy Movement?, by Cameron Hudson and Kholood Khair

The Atlantic Council’s Cameron Hudson and Insight Strategy Partner’s Kholood Khair call for the international community to help Sudan’s pro-democracy movement build a consensus-driven grassroots coalition, “especially in the absence of a pro-democracy consensus among political parties,” by engaging with resistance committees (RCs) and funding a local ecosystem whereby pro-democracy groups can thrive.

 Hudson and Khair suggest greater international political engagement with RCs that “led” the revolution and are “motors of democratic change” that “adjusted deftly to the decreased role of political parties” since the coup, noting that they are working on a political roadmap to assuage international fears that they “lack of a forward plan for democratic change”.

 Hudson and Khair also suggest that pro-democracy funding focuses on: creating spaces to facilitate the inclusion of local pro-democracy voices, alongside media engagement and other forms of public outreach that would scaffold the work of pro-democracy groups and facilitate consensus-building.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – German Volker Perthes to become head of UN Support Mission in Sudan

7/1/2021: Multiple sources – German Volker Perthes to become head of UN Support Mission in Sudan

German diplomat Volker Perthes has become the new head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), as well as Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General to Sudan.

 Perthes was formerly the  Director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs and was a UN Senior Advisor focusing on Syria. His appointment comes after the reported opposition by Russia and China to the appointment of the French diplomat

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Strategic Initiative for Women In The Horn of Africa – The invisible victims of armed militia attacks in Darfur

7/1/2021: Strategic Initiative for Women In The Horn of Africa – The invisible victims of armed militia attacks in Darfur

 In an obituary mourning civilians killed by militias in Darfur, SIHA call for the government to emphasise the demobilisation of armed militia, work to end factionalisation on regional and local levels, seeking inclusive peace within Darfur and the rest of Sudan, and launch a security sector reform taskforce that redefines the concepts of civilian protection and peacekeeping, including training of law enforcement personnel at all levels to ensure that rule of law is reflected on the ground.

SIHA also call for the government to assume responsibility for the continued prevalence of sexual violence against women, girls, men, and boys across Darfur, suggesting fundamental reforms of Sudan’s legal framework, including investment in rule of law institutions, while also rewriting the vague and conflicting laws concerning sexual violence/abuse, and the reform of laws that provide impunity to military and paramilitary forces.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – US Treasury agrees to liquidate Sudan’s arrears to the World Bank

7/1/2021: Multiple sources – US Treasury agrees to liquidate Sudan’s arrears to the World Bank

 Sudanese Finance Minister Hiba Mohammed Ali has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin to liquidate Sudan’s arrears to the World Bank and enable Sudan to obtain more than $1 billion.

 The agreement will provide an emergency loan and financing facilities worth about $ 1.2 billion to settle Sudan’s arrears to the World Bank, which will enable Sudan to start the path of debt relief and benefit from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC).

 Ali said the agreement will pave the way for funding by the International Development Association (IDA) to finance major infrastructure projects and other development projects throughout Sudan.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Sudanese minister defends 500% increase in power fees

7/1/2021: Radio Dabanga - Sudanese minister defends 500% increase in power fees

 Radio Dabanga report that Sudan’s Minister of Energy and Mining Khairy Abdelrahman defended the 500% increase in electricity tariffs on the basis of the state’s need to cover the deficit in finances concerning electricity provision.

 Abdelrahman explained that the deficit now amounts to roughly 60% of the budget due to soaring annual inflation and the “enormous” government employee salaries in 2020. He added that the tariffs increase has been imposed “in a balanced way” and will not affect “the simple consumer, farming areas, and the pharmaceutical industry”.

 Roughly 70% of the provided electricity is subsidised, which should cover an estimated 40% of the consumers in Sudan, Abdelrahman said.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - SPLM-N al-Hilu says Port Sudan tribal violence may affect peace talks

7/1/2020: Sudan Tribune - SPLM-N al-Hilu says Port Sudan tribal violence may affect peace talks

Sudan Tribune reports that the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (Abdelaziz El-Hilu faction) called on Sudanese authorities to take “drastic measures” in combating recurrent tribal fighting in Port Sudan between the Bani Amer and the Nuba, warning that failure to do so will affect the peace process and peaceful coexistence among the population.

15 were recently killed during tribal clashes in Port Sudan.

SPLM-N el-Hilu spokesman Omar Shurkian cited the firearms carried by Bani Amer tribesmen as indications that “they must have been receiving support from somebody somewhere.”

Local authorities have imposed a curfew in Port Sudan and formed an investigation committee, but Sudan Tribune note that previous government attempts at tribal reconciliation have failed to cease the violence.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga – Lawyers demand West Darfur governor removed

7/1/2020: Radio Dabanga – Lawyers demand West Darfur governor removed

Radio Dabanga reports that the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) demanded the removal of the governor and the leaders of the security services in West Darfur.

In a statement, the DBA said it does not attribute the armed attack on a camp for displaced persons in El Geneina to “tribal conflict,” but rather, it was “an organised crime committed by militiamen”.

The DBA further accused the governor of the West Darfur of failing to maintain security during the recent violence, and accused the security services of involvement in the attack.