Dear Ms. Christine Largarde;

GIRIFNA is writing to you on behalf of the majority of Sudan’s population that has been living under the rule of the National Congress Party’s (NCP) dictatorship for almost a quarter of a century.

We noticed that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank recently wrapped up their annual meetings in Washington D.C. that included a “Technical Working Group Meeting on External Debt”, which focused on Sudan [1]. The IMF’s press release [2] summarizing this meeting totally ignored the current political environment in the country [3] as well as the long-term economic and political governance crisis resulting from the NCP’s rule. Additionally, the statement welcomed, “progress made by Sudan, including the recent implementation of difficult reform measures”; and the IMF’s Mission Chief for Sudan praised Sudan for its, “long track record of implementing sustainable economic policies”.

Since September 23, 2013 Sudan has been witnessing an unprecedented wave of popular peaceful protest triggered by the Sudanese government’s decision to lift State subsidies [4] on fuel and essential food items, such as sugar and cooking oil; hence doubling their prices overnight. This is the second such increase in a year’s time and an unbearable burden for a country where 46 percent of the population lives under the poverty line. Omar El Bashir’s government responded to the peaceful protests by shooting and killing more than 200 citizens in Khartoum alone–many of them minors and youth [5]. Since then Sudanese people have been protesting around the globe and asking for the NCP to step down.

Repression is not new to the NCP. Since it came to power in 1989 it has used an extremist ideology to divide Sudan along religious, ethnic and tribal lines. And has maintained its grasp on power by the total economic and political marginalization of the peripheries; an extensive patronage system and a national budget that is essentially a war budget. By spending almost 80 percent of the national budget on security, police, the military, and private militias the NCP has neglected essential sectors such as education, health and agriculture. Needless to say, adequate investment in these sectors for the last 24 years could have moved Sudan from a low-income country to an emerging economy; or at least a self-sufficient nation in terms of food security.

It is noteworthy that the Sudanese government did not shift this pattern of spending on war and its neglect of human development even during the brief six-year period under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the civil war with South Sudan. New conflicts in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile State have erupted since the independence of South Sudan, and the conflict in Darfur entered its first decade with no signs of resolution.

Sudan is a resource-rich country that has the conditions for positive development–it does not need foreign aid. It needs political leadership that can ensure the building of transparent and strong institutions; good governance and corruption-free politics. The IMF’s and the World Bank’s intervention in Sudan today is not democratic, because you are supporting and negotiating with a government that the majority of the Sudanese people want out.

Although we are aware that the recent meetings addressed debt relief for external debt, we remain concerned that Sudan continues to receive grants and loans such as the recent World Bank grant of $76.5 million for basic education [6].

Whatever loans the IMF gives the NCP will not be used to lift Sudanese citizens out of poverty. They will be used to oppress us and ensure that the regime stays in power. We hence ask that you stop all loans to the genocidal regime in Khartoum.

Girifna