A committee with defense, intelligence and humanitarian officials has been formed by presidential decree to assess the foreign organizations operating in Sudan and decide whether to register them under a new system or bar them from further work.

Ali Adam Hassan, the director general for NGOs and civil society organizations in the Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commission, disclosed that President Omar al-Bashir had decreed the formation of a committee headed by the minister for defence with participation of the interior ministry, national security and intelligence and the humanitarian aid commission.

He said that the number of foreign organizations now stands at 139, with 86 being Western organizations and 53 Asian, African or Islamic organizations, but that less than 100 are operational. The number of national organizations is reported to have reached 4043.

In a press statement, Hassan stressed that foreign organizations will have to make a technical agreement approved by the commission.

According to Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Suleiman Abdelrahman, the guidelines for 2013 restrict the number of foreign staff in an organization. He said there should be very few foreign staff, not more than 3 to implement a project, or 5 in the case of Qatari organizations. International NGOs will also be obliged to work in partnership with national ones in implementation and capacity building.

By these directives, Sudanese nationals will have more chances for employment in 2013, according to Abdelrahman, but when working in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan they will have to inform the commission three days in advance of their travel there in order to ensure their safety.

It will also be necessary for organizations to be reviewed by Sudanese auditors.