Khartoum plans new job creation programs targeting young people and women
Published 11 Jun, 2026 14:38
| Updated 11 Jun, 2026 15:40
© Muhammed Emin Canik / Anadolu via Getty Images
Sudan’s poverty rate has risen to 73%, its human resources minister said on Tuesday.
Speaking during a press conference in Cairo, Sudanese Human Resources Minister Moatassim Ahmed Saleh announced plans to launch 500,000 youth projects and expand support for female-led businesses as part of efforts to create jobs and restore livelihoods.
Authorities have also established 15 partnerships to support female-led businesses.
In November, around 23 million people were living below the World Bank’s poverty threshold of $3.00 per day, Saleh estimated. “The poverty rate in Sudan rose from 21% to 71% due to the war, according to official reports,” he said.
Saleh said the government has adopted a five-year plan for 2026-2030 aimed at supporting more than three million small businesses, with over 10,000 projects already prepared for beneficiaries. He also called on Sudanese living abroad to return and take advantage of economic opportunities.
The conflict has devastated local economies and forced millions to flee their homes.
Sudan’s war and accusations of foreign meddling
Sudan descended into chaos in April 2023 when fighting erupted between the national army (Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This occurred after months of tension between their commanders, army generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Hemedti’, respectively, over a planned transition to civilian rule. What began in the capital, Khartoum, as a power struggle has devastated the country, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions.
Regional and international peace efforts, including African Union mediation and Saudi–US talks in Jeddah, have repeatedly stalled. Sudanese officials have named Colombians and Ukrainians among mercenaries backing the RSF against the army. Officials have also accused Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates of involvement and recently claimed the European Union has an “incomplete understanding of the complex situation” in the country.
Khartoum has also accused authorities in neighboring Kenya of backing the RSF and has broken ties with the East African grouping IGAD amid mistrust of regional mediation. In July, TASIS, a political coalition aligned with the paramilitary, announced the formation of a rival government months after its members signed a charter in Nairobi. It named Gen. Dagalo as chairman of a 15-member presidential council, a move rejected by the UN and AU.
In April, a UN Development Program assessment found that the conflict has set Sudan’s economy back more than three decades, with average incomes falling to levels last seen in 1992. The agency warned that extreme poverty could affect nearly 60% of the population by 2030 if the fighting continues.
The poverty crisis has been exacerbated by the collapse of the Sudanese pound, which recently hit a record low against the US dollar. Banking expert Waleed Dalil told Sudan Tribune the currency’s decline reflects the broader impact of the war, which has crippled key sectors of the economy.
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The war has also seen a sharp escalation in drone attacks by both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) across Darfur and Kordofan. The strikes have repeatedly hit civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and water plants.
In April, Sudan Tribune estimated that direct drone attacks on civilian targets had killed between 480 and 500 people and injured more than 1,200 others since the start of 2026.
