World News

Is there any current world leader who faces a more imposing set of challenges than Sudan’s prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok? Four months after taking charge of a transitional government that was formed in the wake of Sudan’s popular revolution, Hamdok—a veteran diplomat with a doctorate in economics—has the unenviable task of repairing a divided, unstable and economically ravaged country with both hands tied behind his back. He is constrained by everyone from partners in the security forces who are resistant to change, to former regime hard-liners, to an expectant Sudanese public, as well as an international community that has offered effusive words of support but has taken few actions to back him up.

Hamdok’s visit to Washington in early December epitomized the difficulties he and his country face. The trip was an opportunity to mark a break with more than two decades of acrimony between Sudan and the United States that resulted from longtime President Omar al-Bashir’s ruinous regime. In some respects, the visit was a success. Hamdok was enthusiastically received in both his public and private engagements—a packed agenda that included talks with departments of government, members of Congress, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, think tanks, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He reported significant progress to his American audiences, including the start of peace talks aimed at resolving Sudan’s tangle of internal conflicts, new judicial appointments, efforts to seize assets of former government officials, and the removal of a widely hated public order law that was used to victimize women in the name of upholding moral conduct.

Since returning from Washington, Hamdok has begun to deliver on his promise of accountability for crimes committed by the former regime. On Dec. 14, Bashir was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to two years in a reform facility. Sudan’s public prosecutor has said that broader charges will follow related to human rights abuses committed during his rule.

Yet in spite of these achievements, the prime minister has little to show for his diplomatic efforts, apart from a U.S. commitment to upgrade bilateral relations and exchange ambassadors for the first time in 23 years. While this might seem like a significant announcement, it falls far short of what Sudan hoped for, and desperately needs, to ease the path to a stable transition economically and politically. Sudan’s top priority is still its removal from the U.S. State Sponsor of Terrorism List, a designation that goes back to 1993 and has the effect of denying the heavily indebted country access to international financial loans.

Sudan has a once-in-a-generation chance to put decades of conflict, predatory government and economic misrule behind it.

The United States can point to legitimate reasons for keeping Sudan on the list. For example, it wants the transitional government to take steps to bring Sudan’s abusive security sector under civilian control, enhance counterterrorism cooperation and ensure reparations are paid to U.S. citizens who lost relatives because of the Bashir regime’s support for terrorism. But the pursuit of these objectives should be weighed against the recognition that Hamdok’s survival as prime minister rests on his ability to deliver major political wins to a Sudanese public that continues to suffer severe economic hardship and is clamoring for immediate improvements in daily life.

Political and bureaucratic complexities in Washington lessen the chances that Hamdok can quickly deliver on his wish list. In addition to the State Sponsor of Terrorism List, Sudan is burdened by a raft of sanctions from the White House and Congress relating to the actions of Bashir’s government in Darfur and other parts of the country embroiled in conflict. While the Trump administration removed some sanctions in 2017, getting the remaining ones lifted will require concerted efforts by Khartoum—efforts that will be even harder as next year’s election approaches and inevitably swallows up high-level attention in Washington.

Sudan will never be top of the list of U.S. foreign policy priorities, but the opening months of 2020 could make or break the country’s fragile transition after the fall of Bashir. Looming on the horizon is a major donors’ conference scheduled to take place in Washington in the spring. The conference is a significant opportunity for the United States to move beyond offering rhetorical support to making concrete financial commitments to Sudan and its transitional government. In the runup to the gathering, the onus will be on Hamdok to present realistic, costed proposals to revive the Sudanese economy, improve livelihoods and prevent the hemorrhaging of public funds to unaccountable security personnel, some of whom sit alongside the prime minister in the transitional government. International donors will get a better signal of Sudan’s intent when the government delivers its 2020 budget plans later this month.

The challenges facing Sudan are immense, but so too are the opportunities. Sudan has had a momentous year, ousting a despotic and hated regime thanks to the bravery of ordinary citizens who risked their lives—and in hundreds of cases, lost them—to realize their dreams of building a fairer, freer and more peaceful nation. Now, Sudan has a once-in-a-generation chance to put decades of conflict, predatory government and economic misrule behind it. It cannot succeed without robust and sustained assistance from the international community. The Friends of Sudan, a group that includes the United States, European partners, African nations and the Gulf states, has the means to provide financial, diplomatic and technical support. Its leaders must not allow inertia, domestic red tape and a lack of vision to get in the way of delivering the brighter future that the people of Sudan deserve.

Richard Downie is senior associate with the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.