VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Jakarta: The friendship between Indonesia and Sudan was laid on the spirit of the Asian-African Conference in Bandung in 1955. The Asian-African Conference inspired Sudan to gain its independence in 1956. Along the way, Sudan experienced dynamics, one of which resulted in the separation of South Sudan from the Republic of Sudan in 2011.

Currently, Sudan has been hit by civil war due to the struggle for power since April 2023. The Indonesian Ambassador to Sudan, Sunarko, in an interview on the Diplomatic Corner program broadcast on the Voice of Indonesia YouTube channel, on Tuesday (06/02) said that the armed conflict in Sudan has been ongoing since its first strike 9 months ago, in mid-April 2023.

According to Ambassador Sunarko, now is a good momentum to increase the number of Sudanese students in Indonesia as a form of moral support for brotherly countries that are being hit by conflict. As a friendly country, Indonesia will not remain silent regarding the situation in Sudan. "So this is a good momentum, the right momentum for the Indonesian Government to increase the number of Sudanese students who will be accepted for Indonesian scholarships, both in the Dharmasiswa program and the Developing Country Cooperation (KNB) program," said Ambassador Sunarko to Voice of Indonesia on the YouTube channel. (06/02).

In 2023, nine Sudanese students received Dharmasiswa scholarships and the number of recipients will continue to increase. Sunarko further conveyed several programs that have the potential to be developed, including collaboration between universities such as lecturers and experts exchanges, especially in the fields of Arabic, Islamic studies, sharia finance, and the halal industry which is currently growing in Sudan. According to Ambassador Sunarko, scientific fields in Indonesia that are of interest to Sudanese students include management, information technology, and architectural studies. Ambassador Sunarko saw the need to provide scholarships as a form of Indonesian solidarity with Sudan.

Educational cooperation between Indonesia and Sudan is quite prominent and grows continuously. Ambassador Sunarko said that before the conflict occurred, there were around 1,100 Indonesian citizens, 900 of whom were students. Previously, Sudan provided 60 scholarship quotas for Indonesian students annually, and it has been increased to 100 scholarships since 2015 for undergraduate to doctoral levels. A total of 95 percent of Indonesian students in Sudan are scholarship winners (Data Media Indonesia, April 2023). (DANIEL/DEVY)