Area: 967,500 sq. mi.; the largest country in Africa and almost the size of continental U.S. east of the Mississippi River
Capital: Khartoum (pop. 1.4 million). Another large city is Omdurman (2.1 million)
Population: 40.2 million
Government: Provisional Government established by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in January 2005 that provides for power sharing pending national elections.
 

 

General Country Information:

Sudan was embroiled in two prolonged civil wars during most of the last half of the 20th century. These conflicts were rooted in northern economic, political, and social domination of largely non-Muslim, non-Arab southern Sudanese. The first civil war ended in 1972 but broke out again in 1983. The second war and famine-related effects resulted in more than four million people displaced and, according to rebel estimates, more than two million deaths over a period of two decades. Peace talks gained momentum in 2002-04 with the signing of several accords. The final North/South Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in January 2005, granted the southern rebels autonomy for six years. After which, a referendum for independence is scheduled to be held. A separate conflict, which broke out in the western region of Darfur in 2003, has displaced nearly two million people and caused an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 deaths. The UN took command of the Darfur peacekeeping operation from the African Union on 31 December 2007. As of early 2009, peacekeeping troops were struggling to stabilize the situation, which has become increasingly regional in scope and has brought instability to eastern Chad. Sudan also has faced large refugee influxes from neighboring countries primarily Ethiopia and Chad. Armed conflict, poor transport infrastructure, and lack of government support have chronically obstructed the provision of humanitarian assistance to affected populations. Sudan is the largest country in Africa; dominated by the Nile and its tributaries.

Trafficking in persons: Sudan is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked internally for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; Sudan is also a transit and destination country for Ethiopian women trafficked abroad for domestic servitude; Sudanese women and girls are trafficked within the country as well as possibly to Middle Eastern countries for domestic servitude; the terrorist rebel organization, Lord's Resistance Army, continues to harbor small numbers of Sudanese and Ugandan children in the southern part of the country for use as cooks, porters, and combatants; some of these children are also trafficked across borders into Uganda or the Democratic Republic of the Congo; militia groups in Darfur, some of which are linked to the government, abduct women for short periods of forced labor and to perpetrate sexual violence; during the two decades-long north-south civil war, thousands of Dinka women and children were abducted and subsequently enslaved by members of the Missiriya and Rezeigat tribes; while there have been no known new abductions of Dinka by members of Baggara tribes in the last few years, inter-tribal abductions continue in southern Sudan(2008).

Sudan is located in northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea. Total land mass is 2,505,813 sq km - slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US. Weather is tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season varies by region (April to November). 41,087,825 (July 2010 est.) Age structure: 0-14 years: 40.7%; 15-64 years: 56.8%; 65 years and over: 2.5%. Infant mortality rate: total: 82.43 deaths/1,000 live births. Total fertility rate: 4.37 children born/woman (2010 est.) HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1.4% (2007 est.) Refugees (country of origin): 157,220 (Eritrea); 25,023 (Chad); 11,009 (Ethiopia); 7,895 (Uganda); 5,023 (Central African Republic). IDPs: 5.3 - 6.2 million (civil war 1983-2005; ongoing conflict in Darfur region) (2007) (source: CIA World Factbook)

Sudan's population is one of the most diverse on the African continent. There are two distinct major cultures -- "Arab" and black African. Sudan became the world's largest debtor to the World Bank and IMF by 1993, its relationship with the international financial institutions soured in the mid 1990s, and has yet to be fully rehabilitated.

Upcoming Project:

Aba Island  - Kosti, Sudan – a new hospital where they have requested the equipping of an operating theater and the Intensive Care/Critical Care Department of the Hospital.

Assist in Sudan:

Deraige IDP Camp School: With over 36,000 inhabitants, the majority of them Darfurians, the Deraige IDP camp houses thousands of children seeking refuge from the war-torn countryside. Families forced to flee their homes see the IDP as a temporary situation, but with the continued genocide in Darfur, many of the internally displaced children will end up spending their entire childhood in the camp.

This school is a vital resource that will help the children gain much-needed education and life skills. Our NGO partner on the ground, EDOOS (Educational Development Organization of Sudan), has been instrumental in the process.