- Updated January 15, 2026
Years Listed
Each shaded box corresponds to a year the country appeared on the CSPA list and what types of waivers it received, if any.
Sudan appeared on the CSPA list between 2010 and 2017, in 2019 and 2020, and most recently in 2024. The U.S. president waived CSPA prohibitions against the provision of U.S. arms sales and military assistance to Sudan for one of those ten years, in 2010, lifting restrictions on nearly $46 million in Direct Commercial Sales for FY2011. However, this assistance was provided to forces fighting for South Sudan’s independence, not to the Sudanese government. The U.S. president has not issued another waiver for the government of Sudan in the years since, resulting in the prohibition of more than $676,000 in Direct Commercial Sales.
According to the U.S. State Department, Sudanese government armed forces, including the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and Popular Defense Forces (PDF), as well as allied militias that have received government support, including the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in Opposition (SPLA-IO), are all alleged to have recruited and used child soldiers. In 2016, the government of Sudan signed a UN Action Plan to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.1Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. “Action Plans,” https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/tools-for-action/action-plans/. In 2018, UNICEF reported that Sudan had increased the transparency of its reporting, allowed UNICEF to conduct verification and monitoring visits to RSF and SAF facilities to identify and demobilize child soldiers, improved its processes for identifying and providing care to child soldiers from rebel groups, and increased anti-trafficking training for judicial and law enforcement officials.2Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Sudan – G. ABUSES IN INTERNAL CONFLICT,” in 2018 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/sudan/. While the RSF reportedly recruited 87 children aged 14 to 17 in May 2019 to disperse anti-government crowds, there were no reports of government forces or allied militias recruiting or using child soldiers between April 2020 and March 2021, and Sudan was subsequently removed from the CSPA list in 2021.3Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Sudan,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2020, pp. 465, https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-trafficking-in-persons-report/sudan/.; Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Sudan,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2021, pp. 520, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TIPR-GPA-upload-07222021.pdf (https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-trafficking-in-persons-report/sudan/).
Between April 2021 and March 2022, an international organization reported that a girl was abducted and detained in sexual slavery on a Sudanese Armed Forces base. Although the U.S. State Department noted that this “meets the legal standards for recruitment and use of a child soldier by the SAF,” it did not include Sudan in its 2022 CSPA list.4Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Sudan,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2022, pp. 514, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20221020-2022-TIP-Report.pdf (https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/sudan/).
With the onset of civil war on 15 April 2023, both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) returned to former practices of employing and recruiting child soldiers, sometimes with coercive force. Thousands of allegations have been made against combatants recruiting and using children in active combat roles, checkpoint operations, transport of ammunition, reconnaissance and surveillance activities, and other labor in military camps.5Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Sudan,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2024, https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/sudan/. The de-facto government, currently headed by the commander of the SAF, significantly reduced its anti-trafficking efforts as a result of the conflict, and has not since investigated or prosecute any officials for forced recruitment or use of child soldiers.6Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Sudan – Prosecution,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2024, https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/sudan/.
For more information, see the U.S. State Department’s 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report and 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. More information on the situation in Sudan can also be found in the UN Secretary-General’s 2024 annual report on Children and Armed Conflict and 2022 country-specific report on Sudan.
Total Waived and Prohibited
Since the CSPA took effect.
Explore the Data
Country- and program-level data on the number and type of national interest waivers granted, as well as the amount of arms sales and military assistance waived.
