March 3 – Unity Day in Sudan – Wait! – But…!

March 3, 2022

Posted on March 3, 2022

This is an update of my post published on March 3, 2011:

March 3 - Unity Day in Sudan - Wait! - But...!

Refugees from Darfur, now in Chad

In the past, March 3 was celebrated as Unity Day, a day for the people in the North and South regions of Sudan to celebrate peace and unity with parades and cultural shows.

That’s what the internet claims.

However, there were decades-long civil wars between the largely Arab/Islamic north and the non-Arab/animist and Christian south. And since 2011, South Sudan became its own independent nation. Still, the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan and also in a part of Sudan called Darfur continues, even now. Well over a million people died in all the unrest and famine, and millions and millions of people were driven from their homes. As of July 2021, almost 3 million Darfuris were STILL displaced and living in camps.

Peace is a nice thing to celebrate but has been unfortunately all-too-difficult to achieve.

As for unity, with the southern portion of Sudan gone, and Darfur still in terrible disarray, I’m pretty sure that Unity Day has not been celebrated in Sudan for years.