Sudan’s transitional government has appealed for support from the international community as it seeks to pull the country from economic turbulence that has rocked it for years.
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, Prime Minister Abdalla Adam Hamdok said the government needed financial support in order to deliver services to the people of Sudan.
“Sudan, with the blood of its martyrs, has gone through decades of tyranny, injustice and social deterioration,” said Hamdok in his pre-recorded speech.
“Despite all of this, this period of transition of the young glorious revolution is experiencing many difficulties, which call for the support of the international community in order to be able to carry out the government’s projects and plans intended to improve the economic situation.”
The Prime Minister said the transitional government had inherited a “paralyzed economy” and a “weak, devastated service sector”, including a health system that had been neglected for decades. The “dark, strange enemy” of COVID-19 presents an additional complication.
Hamdock also noted that his administration had embarked on a drive to reform policies and restructure the country’s economy, pointing to future plans that include providing social support to poor families and strengthening agricultural production, both in urban and rural areas.
“We are making tireless efforts to reconsider national legislation and ensure that it is in harmony with international criteria and conventions,” he said referring to efforts to “clean up” laws on freedom of expression, protection of women’s rights, and impunity, among other areas.
“It is our hope that we will be able to accomplish projects of reconstruction and reform so that Sudan will become once again an active player on the regional stage and to contribute to the international community and work to create the future we want,” he added.
