Sudan

THE SUDAN, geographically the largest African nation, is a low-income, severely indebted nation with 40 percent of the people living below the national poverty [Page 1039]line and 18.7 among the ranks of the unemployed. Approximately 31 percent of all Sudanese are malnourished. Sudan was involved in civil war for most of the latter half of the 20th century. The causes of the war stemmed from attempts by the Muslim-dominated north to control the southern section, which is neither Arab nor Muslim.

An aid worker seeks out displaced children in October 2004 in the Darfur region of Sudan. Darfur has an acute malnutrition level of 22 percent, a result of outbreaks of violence and threats to its already fragile existence.

While northern Sudan has not escaped poverty and disease, conditions are much worse among the southern Sudanese who have less access to available health and economic resources. The World Health Organization estimated that in 2005, more than two million people in southern Sudan needed food assistance. This need is most urgent in Darfur, which has an acute malnutrition level of 22 percent in response to outbreaks of violence and threats to its already fragile existence. Some 80 percent of the Sudanese population are involved in subsistence agriculture, and Sudan suffers from periodic devastating droughts. The Sudanese survive on an annual average income of $370. Data from the Sudan are often sketchy, particularly from the south.

Because of war, famine, and human rights abuses, some two million Sudanese have been killed and another four million displaced since 1983. On January 9, 2005, the opposing forces within Sudan signed a peace agreement. In an effort to improve the economy, the government is engaged in major reforms recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), instituting new economic policies and infrastructure investments. Sudan began exporting crude oil in 1999, and long-term economic prospects appear more favorable. In the meantime, the government faces a formidable task. Since the World Bank refused to extend loans to the Sudanese government so long as war continued, Sudanese [Page 1040]economic health is largely dependent on reestablishing relations with the World Bank and the IMF and with those in a position to extend financial aid to the country.

A 9-year-old famine victim of the Darfur crisis in Sudan waits for aid from relief workers.

The Sudanese population of 40,187,486 has a life expectancy of 58.54 years and a median age of 18.07 years. Some 43.2 percent of the population are under the age of 14, and 2.4 percent are 65 or over. The people have a 27.6 percent of not surviving until the age of 40. The Sudan has a 2.3 percent HIV/AIDS prevalence rate. In 2001, it was estimated that 400,000 Sudanese were living with this disease, which had killed 23,000 others. All indications are that the epidemic is growing.

The World Health Organization estimates that 90 percent of the diseases that plague Sudan are contracted from infected water. At times during the war, up to 90 percent of the population lacked access to safe water. By 2005, 25 percent of the population still lacked access to safe water and 38 percent lacked access to proper sanitation. The lack of these basic services places the Sudanese at very high risk for contracting food- and waterborne diseases that are prevalent in Africa. In some areas, the population is at high risk for malaria, dengue fever, and sleeping sickness. Respiratory diseases are also common.

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