SDFG statement on the International Day of Social Justice

On the 20th of February each year, the world commemorates the International Day of Social Justice. A day designated by the United Nations to draw attention to the crises of discrimination, marginalization, exclusion, deprivation and exploitation between and within nations, and to the importance of achieving social justice for all citizens on an equal footing.

Sudan Democracy First Group (SDFG) marks this day to highlight the close relationship between social justice and the principles of human rights, especially the promotion of human dignity and economic, social and cultural rights, in addition to the civil and political rights as enshrined by international conventions. This reflects the centrality of social justice in the struggle for a just and sustainable peace in Sudan, and the importance of the equitable distribution of wealth and powers between the people of this country in order to eliminate all forms of discrimination and its causes. The aim must be to provide equal opportunities based on equal citizenship for all Sudanese.

The internal conflicts, disputes and multiple ongoing civil wars in Sudan have a common root cause; the absence of social justice, including imbalances and injustice in the distribution of resources, wealth and opportunities between the sons and daughters of Sudan and the different regions of the country, stretching back generations. The ruling regime of the National Congress Party has made every effort for over a quarter of a century to utilize and deepen these imbalances and social injustices to guarantee the victory and the continuation of its racial ideological project. A project that has done nothing for the country but bring more wars, violence and impoverishment, exclusion and destruction of the social fabric.

Sudan Democracy First Group calls at the dawn of the International Day of Social Justice this year to increase the efforts to produce a new social contract between the Sudanese people. A new social contract that opens paths to achieving social justice, based on the absolute equality of citizens’ rights. One that starts with the recognition of, and apology for, all the historical injustices against the marginalized citizens and peoples in the Sudanese state, and ends with the consolidation and promotion of the social justice slogans “equal citizenship” and “Sudan for all Sudanese.”