The Embassy of Sudan

Amb. Ilham I.M. Ahmed

Mrs. Ilham I. M. Ahmed is an Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Khartoum, the Republic of the Sudan.

She received her B.A. in English Literature, College of Arts, University of Baghdad in 1985.

She also obtained Post Graduate Diploma from the College of Higher Studies, University of Khartoum, and her Master Degree (Msc) in Translation and Interpreting, University of Heriot Watt, Edinburgh, UK.

Ambassador Ilham was Deputy Director of the Dept. of Human Rights, Women and Children Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Khartoum (2008), after which she was appointed her country’s ambassador to Norway from 2008-2011.

From 2011-14 she headed the Dept of International Economic and Technical Cooperation at the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She also served in different diplomatic capacities in various Sudanese missions abroad. During her tenure in the Permanent Mission of the Sudan to the United Nations in New York, she was in charge of the human rights, humanitarian, social and cultural issues.

She represented her country in the UN Commission on the Status of Women from 1999-2004.

She was the representative of her country at all UN Conferences, Committees, Commissions and meetings on human rights, social, cultural and humanitarian issues, including at the UN Major Conferences, Summits, and Special Sessions (Women, Human Rights, Social Development, the Ageing, HIV/AIDS and the Millennium Summit), during the period 1998-2004.

She actively participated as member of her country’s delegation in all sessions of the UN Human Rights Council, and the previous UN Commission on Human Rights from 1998-2008.

She served as member of the national Advisory Council for Human Rights 2004-2008.

She represented her country in the first Non-Aligned Movement Conference (NAM) on Women in Putrajaya, 2005.

She was also member of the Technical Committee of the Non-Aligned Movement Institute for the Advancement of Women (NIEW), 2005.

She wrote several papers and presented lectures on challenges facing peace, and prospects of peace in the Sudan, and was a participating speaker in Dialogue programmes on Conflict Resolution.

From 2014-2018 she served as Sudan’s Ambassador to the Republic of Bulgaria and non-resident Ambassador to Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania;

From November 2018 – July 2022 she served as the Assistant Undersecretary for Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Khartoum Under Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the advent of the peaceful December 2018 Revolution in Sudan that led to the removal of the previous regime and paved the way to the Transitional Government;

On October 24, 2022, H.E. Ambassador Ilham I.M. Ahmed presented her credentials to H.E. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Sudan to the Federal Republic of Germany.

In the Sudan, considerable trust is vested in Germany which was the first country to recognise the Sudan when it gained independence in 1956. Germany’s mediating role in the inner-Sudan conflicts and its long-standing involvement in science and culture mean Germany is held in high esteem.

The Federal Government engaged at a very early stage to support democratic change in the Sudan with former Foreign Minister Maas and Federal President Steinmeier travelling to the Sudan after the civilian interim government was established in September 2019. The Sudan Partnership Conference co-hosted by Germany in June 2020 to provide political and financial support for the transition mobilised funding to the tune of 1.8 billion US dollars and was an important success for the partnership between the Sudan and its international partners. Germany provided debt relief through the Paris Club and relaunched bilateral development cooperation with the Sudan.

In reaction to the military coup on 25 October 2021, the Federal Government suspended its support for the acting Sudanese Government in place since that time both in terms of bilateral cooperation and at the multilateral level. Yet Germany is continuing to provide assistance to the Sudanese population. In 2021, for example, Germany made available humanitarian assistance to the tune of 40 million euro for people in need in the Sudan.

During its membership of the UN Security Council in 2019/2020, Germany was involved in setting up the UNITAMS political mission (United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan) which is led by the German Professor Volker Perthes. Since January 2021 UNITAMS has been following and supporting the peace process and democratic change in the Sudan. Germany seconds police officers to the Mission and provides financial support.

(Source: Federal Foreign Office)