The Impacts of COVID-19 on Modern Slavery in Transition: A Case Study of Sudan

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Sudan was in the midst of a democratic transition, involving the reconstruction of state institutions, development of new legislation and governing frameworks, and a commitment to ensuring the protection and advancement of human rights. Amongst these activities, the Government demonstrated the political will to address modern slavery and improve the country's rating in the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report.

As the country with the 14th highest prevalence of modern slavery globally, effective response efforts in Sudan would have a meaningful impact on global antislavery. Yet, despite renewed commitment, these activities faced the obstacles of economic strain, limited resources and capacity, and the ongoing need to ensure peace and stability in the country.

COVID-19 exacerbated these obstacles, as well as presenting substantial new challenges to ensuring effective antislavery in the transition. Yet, the specific impacts and implications of the pandemic on modern slavery and antislavery responses in Sudan remains unknown.

This research will fill a critical knowledge and information gap on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on modern slavery in Sudan, and formulate recommendations and guidelines for appropriate mitigation and response efforts. Through multi-layered, mixed methods analysis, our research will seek to answer five key questions:

(1) How is COVID-19 impacting the dynamics and manifestations of modern slavery in Sudan?

(2) How is COVID-19 influencing structural, community, and personal factors that underpin vulnerability to modern slavery in Sudan? (3) How is COVID-19 affecting the development and implementation of antislavery policy and practice in Sudan?

(4) How have policy-makers and practitioners adapted their antislavery efforts in response to the ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic, and to what extent have these measures been successful?

(5) What measures should be adopted by policy-makers and practitioners to ensure effective antislavery governance in Sudan during and after the pandemic?

To understand the impacts of the pandemic on modern slavery dynamics, vulnerabilities, and responses, this project combines three layers of research and analysis: (1) a comprehensive review of existing and emerging evidence; (2) in-depth interviews with key informants in policy and practice in Sudan and internationally; and (3) a supplementary survey of key stakeholders. These research activities will form the foundation for the development of evidence-based guidance for effective policy and practice to address modern slavery in Sudan during and after the pandemic, built in collaboration with UK-based Sudanese survivors.

Focus group discussion with these survivors will ensure the voice of affected communities shapes policy and practice guidance, and responds to the specific needs and interests of survivors. This approach positions survivors not as the subjects of research, but as co-creators of research outputs.

The project takes advantage of the existing expertise and networks of project partners to deliver meaningful findings and outputs in a short timeframe. Engagement with key stakeholders as both participants and users of the research ensures buy-in from the outset, and helps to facilitate uptake. Project partners will work proactively throughout the project, and on completion, to ensure findings are embedded in ongoing policy and practice processes, to support long-lasting change.

This research is further embedded in a longer-term process of political transition in Sudan, in which antislavery and human rights have been considered a priority. This provides the opportunity for meaningful, evidence-based recommendations to significantly influence Sudanese antislavery governance into the future. This will support greater stability and human rights protections in Sudan, recognised to be central to building greater stability in the region more broadly.