"Stand Up for Sudan”, Hamdok's new campaign to revive the Sudanese economy

One year after Omar al-Bashir was ousted from power, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has launched an initiative called "Stand Up for Sudan", as a call for donations to help reduce the country's long-standing difficulties.

This initiative comes after the Sudanese Army denied on Sunday, according to media reports, the existence of steps to carry out a military coup before the first anniversary of the sit-in near the headquarters of the General Command in Khartoum on 6 April last year.

The Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, Osman Hussein Osman, praised the widespread response of the various sectors of Sudanese people to the Sudan Defence Initiative (the people's campaign for construction and reconstruction), launched by the Sudanese Prime Minister.

As reported by the Sudanese state agency SUNA, the Secretary General stated that the initiative embodies the Sudanese people's values of solidarity. In addition, Osman said that this initiative would feed the spirit of patriotism. In a statement, the Prime Minister called on the Sudanese people to contribute what they can to enable the country to overcome the economic crisis and the current threat of COVID-19. Hamdok stressed that the biggest challenge is the economic crisis that resulted from mismanagement, corruption and the long economic isolation inherited from the previous regime: "The transitional government is working, side by side, with everyone in the world to overcome this dangerous disease," Hamdok said.

For her part, Dalia El-Ruby, head of information and communications at the Prime Minister's Office, presented the goals and objectives of the campaign, saying that it stems from the Sudanese people's culture of cohesion and mutual support, adding that this initiative continues in order to address urgent problems and contribute to the implementation of many national projects.  With this initiative the authorities are seeking to recover funds looted from the state by the former regime.

Sudanese political parties and civil society groups have expressed their support for the Prime Minister's national initiative. Political players have described this campaign as the right move to boost the country's economy.

On 6 April, thousands of young people staged demonstrations in the central area of Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, to mark the first anniversary of the 6 April Revolution which overthrew Omar al-Bashir last year, and also overthrew Marshal Jaafar al-Nemairi on the same day in 1985.
 

Several Sudanese political parties and groups have issued statements commemorating the revolution, while the Association of Professionals, which led the revolution last year, did not call for demonstrations due to the exceptional circumstances prevailing in the country and the world as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.