Overview
Sudan’s ongoing conflict, which has claimed over 150,000 lives and displaced more than 10 million people, has exposed a devastating governance vacuum.
Decades of military rule, endemic corruption, and the systematic exclusion of marginalised regions have left the country without the civilian leadership capacity needed for a sustainable democratic transition.
The Youth Governance Academy (YGA) proposes a bold, evidence-based solution: invest in the young Sudanese who already demonstrated their leadership during the 2019 revolution and the 2023–2026 conflict.
Key Findings
Sudan’s youth are not an untested resource — they are a proven one.
Emergency Response Rooms mobilised and transparently distributed over $50 million in diaspora contributions during the conflict. Resistance committees organised communities democratically across ethnic and regional lines. Women represented 60–70% of 2019 protest participants and hold 45% of ERR leadership positions today.
What these leaders lack is not commitment or ability, but formal governance training and institutional access.
Research from comparable transitions reinforces this case.
In Tunisia, youth comprising 22% of the constitutional assembly helped produce the Arab world’s most democratic constitution.
In Rwanda, youth-led community dialogues achieved participation rates double those of elder-led sessions.
In Kenya, counties with higher youth participation showed 25% lower corruption indices.
The evidence consistently shows that youth inclusion produces more accountable, responsive, and durable governance.
The YGA addresses this directly through an 18-month pipeline:
Rigorous selection of 250–300 candidates ensuring gender balance (minimum 40% women) and representation from all 18 states
Six months of intensive residential training across eight governance competency modules
Three months of supervised internships in functioning African democracies
Phased deployment into real transitional governance roles with ongoing mentorship
At a total cost of €24.8 million over three years — approximately USD 82,667 per participant — this represents exceptional value compared to failed political settlements costing billions or continued conflict estimated at $500 million per month.
Practical Recommendations
- Secure a Binding Government MoU Immediately
International partners should make the Sudanese transitional government’s written commitment to allocate 200+ positions for YGA graduates — with genuine authority, salaries, and security guarantees — a precondition for broader reconstruction funding.
- Establish the Donor Consortium Without Delay
Germany and the EU should publicly anchor the funding base and convene bilateral and multilateral partners to close the full €24.8 million commitment before recruitment launches in August 2026.
- Prioritise Deployment to Marginalised Regions
At least 120 of the first 200 deployed graduates should be placed in Darfur, South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Eastern Sudan, directly reversing the historical exclusion that fuelled the conflict.
- Embed Civil Society Oversight from Day One
Emergency Response Rooms and resistance committees must be formal partners in participant nomination, performance monitoring, and programme governance — not afterthoughts — to ensure community accountability and prevent elite capture.
- Plan for Institutionalisation from the Outset
Donor funding agreements should include a sustainability clause requiring the Sudanese government to progressively increase its budget contribution, with a clear legislative pathway to establishing the National Governance Institute by Year 3.
