♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan

♦ Trump pushes back decision on lifting Sudan sanctions

11 July – 2017 WASHINGTON The Trump administration delayed its decision on whether to permanently lift sanctions on Sudan, giving itself three more months to determine whether the government of President Omar Al Bashir has made enough progress to see the country relieved from crippling economic sanctions.

The executive order by President Donald Trump, issued on Tuesday evening, postponed the deadline for his administration and the secretary of state to review and decide on the lifting of nearly 20-year-old sanctions, to 12 October 2017. In the order he said the remaining months will include “additional fact-finding and a more comprehensive analysis of the Government of Sudan's actions”.

Several dozen US Congressmen and lawmakers urged the American president to delay today’s deadline, arguing that his administration did not yet have sufficient staff in place to fully evaluate whether the sanctions merited being removed.

“Some more time is needed”, Department spokesman Heather Nauert confirmed in a press statement. She added that the US is also committed to engaging with Sudan on improving the human rights and freedom of religion situation, “and ensuring that Sudan is committed to the full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea”.

Meanwhile the United Nations Country Team in Sudan are in favour of the lifting of sanctions. “Sudan has fulfilled all its commitments to the United States,” said Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, adding that the penalties inflicted on the people since Sudan was branded a state sponsor of terrorism in 1997, have been enormous.

♦ Containing a callous killer: interview with anti-cholera campaigner

July 12 – 2017 SUDAN Presentations on the streets, online videos, posters, bars of soap. There is little that the dozens of local initiatives have not done to help people fight against infection and raise awareness about the rapid spread of cholera in Sudan. Without any support from the Sudanese government in Khartoum, volunteers throughout the country have teamed-up in providing information to residents about prevention, local treatment services and how to deal with people who fell victim to cholera.

“The government's failure to officially declare the epidemic has been the main obstacle to the initiatives,” said campaigner Najda Mansour, a grassroots activist, in an interview with Radio Dabanga. “But we use all kinds of means to coordinate this work. Social and chat media such as Facebook and WhatsApp, which are also used to raise health awareness among people through videos about cholera prevention and illustrations.”

The disease has claimed 940 lives since cholera cases emerged in Blue Nile state in August last year, an independent national epidemiological centre found. An increasing number which the initiatives and field teams of volunteers try to curb in various ways: creating informative videos, visiting mosques and handing out disinfectants in public transport.

Continue reading

More news from Radio Dabanga: