Friends of Sudan meet in Khartoum

Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok has called on the Friends of Sudan group to provide political and economic support to overcome the current challenges and risks facing the transition process.

Addressing the Friends of Sudan meeting in Khartoum on Wednesday, he said Sudan is exerting all efforts to achieve peace, and remove its name from the US list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, economic support, and debt forgiveness.

The Friends of Sudan group includes the USA, France, Germany, Britain, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt. Representatives of the United Nations and the African Union also attend the meeting.

Hamdok said that the environment is conducive to cooperation and successfully overcoming of challenges, adding that we have great expectations to support the economy through foreign investments to tackle the economy so that it is on the right track.

Hamdok asserted his government’s commitment to holding the constitutional conference and organising free elections that lead to the desired life.

Human Rights

He affirmed his commitment to preserving peace, implementing human rights and addressing youth issues so that they have opportunities rather than taking risks through illegal immigration by opening the door for employment and supporting health and education.

The State Minister of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Miriam Heijan, said that the conference in Khartoum was evidence of the international community’s support for the transitional government with deeds rather than words and demanded to include the sustainable development goals in the budget for the next year to ensure the process of sustainable growth Sudan and called for not relying on external resources and pointed to the need to develop the private sector.

She noted that the selection of Sudan as the president of East Africa Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) as encouraging recognition by the countries of the region of the positive developments in the country, stressing the full support of the European Union to Sudan.

International Crisis Group

In an open letter to the Friends of Sudan, the International Crisis Group, an independent organisation ‘working to prevent wars and shape policies that will build a more peaceful world’ urges that “Sudan’s transition hangs in the balance,” and that “the transitional administration led by the widely-respected economist, Abdalla Hamdok, requires urgent financial, technical and diplomatic support if it is to keep the transition on track, deliver the economic revival that the Sudanese people are counting on, bring peace to the country’s war-ravaged peripheries, and overhaul the country’s constitution ahead of the planned elections that, in 2022, are intended to complete Sudan’s shift to a democratically elected and fully civilian government.”

The open letter, signed by President & CEO, Robert Malley, and Africa Program Director Comfort Ero, goes on to say: “The Friends of Sudan can help make Sudan’s transition a success. Comprising African powers, Western donors and long-time partners of Khartoum from the Gulf region, your financial muscle and political ties give you exceptional influence. Your group has already played a valuable role by coming together to present a cohesive front in support of the transition, including by encouraging the parties to endorse the August transitional agreement that installed the current administration. On this fifth meeting of the group – and the first held in Khartoum – Crisis Group calls upon all members to commit to a course of action that is commensurate with the urgency of this once-in-a-generation chance to steer Sudan toward durable stability.”

Read the full open letter here

Radio Dabanga’s editorial independence means that we can continue to provide factual updates about political developments to Sudanese and international actors, educate people about how to avoid outbreaks of infectious diseases, and provide a window to the world for those in all corners of Sudan. Support Radio Dabanga for as little as €2.50, the equivalent of a cup of coffee.