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Sudan, with its population of 43.85 million (2020), is situated in north-east Africa and is bordered to its north by Egypt, the Red Sea to its north-east, Eritrea and Ethiopia to its east, Kenya to its south-east, South Sudan to its south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic to its south-west, Chad to its west and Libya to its north-west. Both before and after its independence from the UK in 1956, there has been ongoing conflict between the dominant Islamic north and the black African Christian South. This conflict nominally ended with the secession of South Sudan as an independent country in 2011 however the situation is still very delicate with a current impasse over oil revenues and fees for transport of South Sudan's oil through Sudan itself to the sea ports. When South Sudan achieved its independence, Sudan itself lost its title as the largest country in Africa however remains one of the continent's most troubled. Formed as
part of the ancient land of Numbia, what is now Sudan was unified with Egypt in
1821 and later became a British colony
until gaining independence in 1956. Even before the modern nation of
Sudan was born, it was already embroiled in a civil war between the north and
south of the country, with the south being fearful of the North's dominance and
Islamic leaning culture. This war lasted until 1972 and ceased on the signing of
the Addis Ababa Agreement, however tensions continued.
War flared again in 1983 when President Gaafar Nimeiry decided to modify the agreement, including
imposing Islamic law throughout the country, without the consent of the south,
which had been operating within Sudan but as a largely autonomous state. This second war lasted for twenty
years until it was ended by the signing of the Nairobi Comprehensive Peace
Agreement in 2005 which re-established southern Sudan's former autonomy together with a promise of
a referendum on independence in 2011. Northern troops finally left the south of
the country in 2008. Unfortunately this was not the
end of warfare in Sudan, for since 2003 a separate conflict had been raging in the
western province of Darfur. This followed accusations from the Sudanese
Liberation Army that the Sudan government was oppressing black Africans in
favour of Arabs. This war has displaced over two million people, resulted in the
deaths of upward of 400,000 people and had Sudan's President President
Omar al-Bashir (below) indicted for war crimes.
Against this backdrop of bloody
conflict, generations of children have been born, mostly into extreme poverty in
a country that has had its infrastructures ravaged by war and its economy
shattered. Sudan has been described at the World's worst humanitarian crisis,
and its war problems have been compounded by harsh famines, illness and disease. Today, with its 43.85 million (2020) population, the country and its people faces an
uncertain and still dangerous future. Its hard to imagine living in a land where there is only one trained doctor for every 100,000 people, where more than half of all children don't attend school so will struggle to find employment in a country where so many don't work and where a quarter of a million people are living in refugee camps along the Chad border.
But worse than that, as Sudan has had little more than a decade of stability since its independence, so many children have grown up knowing nothing but fear, conflict, death of family members, rape and abduction to be trafficked elsewhere.
It is these scars that will take the longest to heal as Sudanese children do not
have any concept of normality to cascade down to their children to help build a
brighter future. Work programs in the Sudan help
hundreds of thousands and include getting food supplies to severely malnourished
children, running orphanages, water projects,
education projects, providing seeds and tools, and very simple yet effective
ideas such as the provision of chickens so families have an additional source of
food and are able to sell surplus eggs for additional monies for the necessities
of life.
In late 2018 the country was rocked by a wave of populist protests when the Sudanese government imposed a tripling of the price of goods in a country where inflation was already running at 70%. Bashir dug in but was eventually forced to resign in April 2019 and a three month state of emergency was declared with protests continuing until the Forces for Freedom and Change and Sudan's Traditional Military Council, who had stepped in after Bashir's downfall, signed a Draft Constitutional Declaration in August 2019 in which it was agreed that there would be a transition process adminsitered by a Sovereignty Council of three years and three months, initially led by a military figure, General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman al-Burhan (above) for 21 months, followed by a civilian leader for 18 months with the full restoration to civilian control in November 2021.
Despite this, military officers, still loyal to Bashir attempted a military coup in September 2021, which was thwarted by government forces. On 16 October 2021 the military seized power again and Al-Burhan dissolved the Sovereignty Council, and established himself as the current de facto head of state of Sudan and the Commander-In-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Force. On 31th December 2021 Al-Burhan stated he was committed to holding 'free, fair, and transparent elections' in July 2023. On this page you can explore facts and information about
Sudan in a series of articles and videos together with
news about Sudan.
Sudan Profile: Volunteer in Sudan
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Sudan Profile: History of Sudan
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Sudan Profile: Darfur Explained
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Sudan Profile: Life in Sudan
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Child Sponsor Sudan: Children in Sudan
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Sudan Profile: Education in Sudan
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Sudan Profile: Khartoum Profile
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Sudan Profile: Khartoum Airport
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Sudan Profile: Sudan Images
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Sudan Profile: Sudan Quiz
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Sudan Profile: Child Sponsor Sudan
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Sudan Profile: Sudan Map
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Sudan Profile: Sudan News
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