Sudan – KMAUPDATES

Jun292020 by KATENDE SHARIFNo Comments

Coronavirus – Sudan: UNAMID COVID-19 Update

CORONAVIRUS

ZALINGEI, Sudan, June 29, 2020/ -- As of 25 June 2020, UNAMID has 17 cases of COVID-19 among its mission personnel, including two cases in Kenya and one national staff in Khartoum. A total of 10 out of the 17 cases have fully recovered from the disease. In line with the Mission’s mitigation measures, 31 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests have been conducted on mission personnel in Darfur as of 25 June 2020, based on their showing mild or moderate symptoms or having potentially been in contact with a confirmed or suspected case. UNAMID support to staff and uniformed personnel UNAMID continues to provide support to federal and state authorities to prevent and contain COVID-19. From 24 June 2020, UNAMID commenced implementation of a two-week sensitization campaign in several r...

Jun272020 by KATENDE SHARIFNo Comments

International community shows strong support for Sudan with $1.8 billion pledge

INTERNATIONAL

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, June 27, 2020/ -- Over $1.8 billion dollars in pledges for Sudan poured in during a high-level Sudan Partnership Conference held on Thursday, 25 June 2020, marking an important step in the African nation’s re-engagement with the international community. African Development Bank (https://www.AfDB.org/) President, Akinwumi Adesina, and the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund chiefs attended the Conference, which was co-hosted by the Republic of the Sudan, the Federal Republic of Germany, the European Union and the United Nations, and held virtually in Berlin. Other participants included delegations from 50 countries and international organisations. “This Conference signals the strong and full return of Sudan to the international community,” said A...

Jun272020 by KATENDE SHARIFNo Comments

Coronavirus – Sudan: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Announces a Contribution of $356.2 Million from the U.S. Government for Sudan’s Democratic Transition

INTERNATIONAL

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 27, 2020/ -- The United States is providing $356.2 million to support the democratic transition in the Republic of Sudan following a peaceful revolution in 2019. The Acting Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), John Barsa, announced this commitment today at the Sudan Partnership Conference, a virtual event co-hosted by the European Union, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Transitional Government of Sudan, and the United Nations. The U.S. commitment includes $20 million, subject to Congressional notification, for the Sudan Family-Support Program, a safety net administered by the World Food Programme to help a large part of the Sudanese population through a difficult period of economic reform needed to end unsustainabl...

Jun252020 by KATENDE SHARIFNo Comments

Coronavirus – Sudan: UNAMID awareness campaign on COVID-19

CORONAVIRUS

ZALINGEI, Sudan, June 25, 2020/ -- UNAMID Bangladeshi peacekeepers provide masks and hand sanitizers to local population in the streets of Elfasher town in North Darfur as part of their awareness campaign on COVID-19. This campaign is also extended to university students and lecturers at Elfasher University. These efforts are part of the Mission’s overall response to support the host community in combating the spread of COVID-19.

Jun232020 by KATENDE SHARIFNo Comments

Coronavirus – Sudan: UNAMID conducts intensive street publicity awareness campaign on Covid-19 across Darfur

CORONAVIRUS

ZALINGEI, Sudan, June 23, 2020/ -- More than one million residents from five Darfur states (north, south, east, central, west) are estimated to have directly benefitted from the recently concluded month-long Street Publicity Awareness Campaign (SPAC) on the fight against COVID-19 organized by UNAMID’s Communications and Public Information Section, in collaboration with the state health authorities in the western region of Sudan. The awareness campaign, led by local health experts from the State Ministries of Health and Social Development, comprised the use of megaphones mounted on open vehicles and vans adorned with posters and banners with slogans on the measures to mitigate and fight against COVID-19, that has so far claimed more than four hundred lives by mid-June 2020. The campa...

Jun222020 by KATENDE SHARIFNo Comments

Coronavirus – Sudan: UNAMID COVID-19 Update

CORONAVIRUS

KHARTOUM, Sudan, June 22, 2020 -- Situation update: UNAMID continues to implement measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As at 17 June 2020, UNAMID has sixteen cases of COVID-19 among its mission personnel including two cases in Kenya and one national staff in Khartoum. A total of eight out of the sixteen cases have fully recovered from the disease. So far, 29 PCR tests have been conducted on Mission personnel in Darfur based on their showing mild or moderate symptoms or having potentially been in contact with a confirmed or suspected case. UNAMID support to the Government on COVID-19 From 7-14 April 2020, UNAMID, through the state liaison functions (SLF) mechanism, supported the Sudan Police Force (SPF) in West Darfur to design, develop and print 4,000 brochures and flyers ...

Jun112020 by Ronald KabuubiNo Comments

Sudan embraces digital payments to build a more inclusive economy

AFRICA

KHARTOUM, Sudan, June 11, 2020/ -- As part of its vision to transform its economy, the Republic of Sudan announced yesterday a new commitment to accelerate the transition from cash to digital payments. By joining the United Nations-based Better Than Cash Alliance (www.BetterThanCash.org), the government commits to increasing financial inclusion and transparency, taking steps to build an economy that benefits all citizens. Moving from cash to responsible (https://bit.ly/2UrKZKg) digital payments is central to the government’s economic recovery and reform strategy. In particular, digital payments will be critical to the success of the recently announced Sudan Family Support Program, which will provide monthly direct digital transfers to around 80 percent of Sudanese f...

Jun102020 by KATENDE SHARIFNo Comments

Ethiopia: The African Development Bank gives $1.2 million for Ethiopia-Sudan railway study

AFRICA

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, June 10, 2020/ -- The African Development Bank’s (www.AfDB.org) Board of Directors has approved a $1.2 million grant to Ethiopia’s government to finance a feasibility study for construction of a standard-gauge railway (SGR) link between Ethiopia and neighbouring Sudan. The grant, from the African Development Fund, the Bank Group's concessional-rate lending arm, would cover 35% of the total estimated $3.4 million cost of the study. The remaining funding will be provided by the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) in the form of a $2-million grant, and by a contribution of $100,000 each from the two countries involved. The financing was approved in January. The two-year, comprehensive feasibility study will assess the proposed project’s ...

Jun62020 by KATENDE SHARIFNo Comments

Coronavirus – Sudan: Community leaders fight COVID-19 alongside United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sudan

HEALTH

KHARTOUM, Sudan, June 6, 2020/ -- ‘Any child is everyone’s child,’ one Sudanese proverb goes. ‘None of us is safe until all of us are safe’ might be a timely interpretation. In Sudan, UNDP is working with trusted local partners to respond and rebuild better as the ongoing pandemic threatens to reverse decades of progress in tackling poverty and inequality. Coordinating with health authorities and others, Sudanese community groups and networks —operating in eight languages — are partnering with UNDP to ensure at-risk groups including internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, and migrants, with untapped skills and huge unmet basic needs, aren’t left even further behind. ‘We have a great responsibility to our community, especially regarding health,’ Fadlalla Mohamed Gabriel, le...

May232020 by Ronald KabuubiNo Comments

Coronavirus – Sudan: UNAMID reports 7 suspected COVID-19 cases at its Logistics Base

CORONAVIRUS

ZALINGEI, Sudan, May 23, 2020/ -- The African Union – United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) wishes to inform about seven (7) suspected cases of the Corona Virus (COVID-19) reported amongst its personnel operating at the its Logistics Base in El Fasher, North Darfur. It is important to note that all affected personnel, including staff who have possibly come into contact with them, are currently adhering to strict quarantine and isolation set protocols. In addition, UNAMID has initiated its mandatory track and trace procedures that are part of the standard operating procedures while providing medical monitoring of the situation. Only the Mission’s Logistics Base is currently undergoing this investigation. “To confirm the antibody test results, the Mission in collab...

Mar132020 by ShafiqNo Comments

AFRICA: UN Security Council Press Statement on Sudan.

AFRICA, FEATURE STORIES, SUDAN, UNITED NATIONS

NEW YORK, United States of America, March 12, 2020/ -- Members of the Council condemned in the strongest possible terms the attack on Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s convoy in Khartoum on 9 March 2020. Members of the Council stressed that such attacks are unacceptable and called for the perpetrators to be held accountable. Members of the Council reiterated their full support to Prime Minister Hamdok in his endeavours to see Sudan through a successful transition in a manner that achieves the hopes and aspirations of the Sudanese people for a peaceful, stable, democratic and prosperous future. Members of the Council expressed their solidarity with the people of Sudan and affirmed their readiness to support Sudan during the transition period, and reaffirmed their ...

Mar122020 by ShafiqNo Comments

SUDAN: African Development Bank signs first private sector loan, DAL Group to receive up to $75 million

AFRICA, Business, SUDAN

KHARTOUM, Sudan, March 10, 2020/ -- The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has signed an agreement with DAL Group, one of Sudan’s largest conglomerates, for the provision of up to $75 million to improve food security and household incomes in the country. The agreement is the Bank’s first private sector loan to the East African nation.The agreement was signed on Thursday, 5 March at a ceremony held at the Bank’s Sudan Country Office by Dr. Jennifer Blanke, Bank Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development representing the Bank, and DAL Group Chairman Osama Daoud Abdellatif.The financing facility comes in the form of a senior corporate loan of up to the equivalent of $75 million in multiple currencies, which includes $40 million and EUR 30 million.Speaking a...

Feb122020 by ShafiqNo Comments

CRIME: Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir to be handed to the international Criminal Court.

AFRICA, CRIME, SUDAN

Sudan's Omar al-Bashir spent a decade flouting international arrest warrants on war crimes charges, travelling overseas in open defiance of the International Criminal Court. But after mass protests brought an end to his three decades of iron-fisted rule last year, Bashir looks set to finally appear before The Hague-based ICC for his role in the Darfur conflict. The 75-year-old has been held in prison since his ouster in April on corruption charges that saw him sentenced in December to two years in a correctional centre for the elderly. One of Africa's longest-serving presidents, Bashir showed many different faces during his 30 years in power. Known for his trademark dancing and waving of a stick before addressing loyalists, Bashir had remained defiant in the fac...

Feb62020 by ShafiqNo Comments

AFRICA: Sudan says leader made no promises to Israel Prime Minister.

AFRICA, FEATURE STORIES, ISRAEL, SUDAN

Sudan’s cabinet said Thursday that the country’s leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had made no promise to Israel’s prime minister of “normalising ties” between the two countries. Burhan, who heads Sudan’s ruling sovereign council, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for previously unannounced talks in Entebbe on Monday that appeared to signal an end to Sudan’s long-standing boycott of the Jewish state. Soon after their meeting, Netanyahu announced that the two leaders had agreed to cooperate towards normalising ties. Sudan’s transitional cabinet said Thursday that meeting Netanyahu was Burhan’s “personal initiative” and he had made no promises to the Israeli premier. “The chief of the sovereign council told us … he did not give any commitment and did no...

Jan222020 by ShafiqNo Comments

UGANDA: Lumumba invites Opposition leaders to NRM meeting

AFRICA

A statement by the NRM senior communications officer, Rogers Mulindwa, said those invited include chairpersons or presidents and secretary generals of Forum for Democratic Change, Democratic Party, Justice Forum and Uganda People’s Conference. “She said her decision to invite these sister Political Parties follows a cordial working relationship amongst them under Inter-party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD),” Mulindwa said. Mulindwa added that the SG was optimistic the Opposition leaders would honour the invitation. The party has also invited several political parties from South Sudan, China, Mozambique, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania and Namibia to attend the conference. NRM is set to hold its national conference at the Mandela ...