- Three-fourths (75%) of Sudanese say they believe that “some” (24%) or “a lot” (51%) of the resources intended for the COVID-19 response were lost to corruption (Figure 1). Only 4% think that none of these resources were embezzled.
- About one in seven citizens (15%) say someone in their household lost a job, business, or primary source of income due to the pandemic, while 7% say a member of their household became ill or tested positive for COVID-19 (Figure 2).
- About one in eight Sudanese (13%) say their household received pandemic-related assistance from the government, while 83% did not (Figure 3).
- Only about one-third of citizens say they are “fairly satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the government’s efforts during the pandemic to minimise disruptions to children’s education (34%), to provide relief assistance to vulnerable households (32%), and to ensure that health facilities are adequately resourced (29%) (Figure 4).
- About three-fourths of citizens approve of using the police or military to enforce public health mandates (74%) and of censoring media reporting (73%) during a pandemic. A slimmer majority (59%) say it is justified to postpone elections in response to a public health emergency (Figure 5).
- Almost two-thirds (64%) of Sudanese say the government is not well prepared to deal with future public health emergencies (Figure 6).
- Six in 10 (60%) think the government needs to invest more in such preparations, even if it means fewer resources are available for other health services (Figure 7).
More than half of Sudanese say that “a lot” of resources intended for the response to the COVID-19 pandemic were lost to corruption, the latest Afrobarometer survey shows.
About one in eight households report receiving pandemic-related assistance from the government, and only one-third of survey respondents express satisfaction with the government’s efforts to provide relief to vulnerable families.
Most citizens think that during an emergency like the pandemic, the government is justified in using the armed forces or the police to enforce public health mandates, in censoring media reporting, and in postponing elections.
The survey findings also show that a majority of citizens think that their government is not well prepared to deal with future public health emergencies and that greater investment in such preparations are needed, even if it means that fewer resources are available for other health services.