Sudan Family Support Programme (SFSP), World Bank

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

Sudan's economy needs to undergo major structural reforms to mitigate the free-falling economy. The reforms needed include an exchange rate liberalization, a tax reform, a boosting of the productive sector, and a (sequenced) elimination of subsidies. In order to mitigate the economic shock as well as to reduce the political risks associated with the lifting of subsidies, commissioned by the Government of Sudan (GoS), the World Bank (WB) has devised a cash based programme named the Sudan Family Support Program (SFSP). The SFSP will target 80 % of the population with unconditional cash transfers over a period of twelve months, and will primarily be funded by external financing. Supporting the SFSP and the economic reforms is closely linked to the success of Sudan's democratic transition. While a successful implementation of the economic reforms is assessed as having the potential to revitalize Sudan's ailing economy, a failure could have dire consequences, and may even derail Sudan's entire democratic transition. Therefore, some of the key arguments in favor of supporting the SFSP are: i) the SFSP would help stabilize the economy and rein in the deteriorating humanitarian situation; ii) supporting the SFSP would be a strong display of support to Sudan's democratic transition; and iii) the SFSP would mitigate the economic shock of Covid-19.