All You Need to Know About Kamil Idris, Sudan’s Newly Appointed Prime Minister

Army chief and de facto head of state, Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, has appointed Kamil Idris as prime minister on Monday, 19 May 2025 as part of changes to his sovereign council in the midst of Sudan’s ongoing war.

The appointment installs a prime minister for the first time since Al Burhan’s coup in 2021 ousting former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok and the civilian leadership. The new prime minister replaces veteran diplomat Dafallah Al Haj Ali, who was appointed by Al Burhan on 30 April 2025 as acting premier, in a move that did not appear to take effect.

Here is all you need to know about the new prime minister Kamil Idris:

• Born on 26 August 1954 in Omdurman, he is 71 years old.
• He is a former United Nations (UN) official. The career diplomat joined the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1982 and served as its Director General from 1997 to 2008. During his tenure, he also led the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). He was a member of the United Nations International Law Commission between 1992–1996 and 2000–2001.
• In 2007, Idris faced allegations regarding discrepancies in his birth date records, leading to questions about his integrity. He attributed the issue to a typographical error. Despite the controversy, he stepped down from his position at WIPO a year early in 2008.
• He ran as an independent candidate in Sudan’s presidential election in 2010 against longtime former President Omar Al Bashir, who was ousted in 2019 during the Sudanese revolution.
• He also held various roles in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• He holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from the University of Khartoum and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Political Science, and Economic Theories from Cairo University. He earned a Master’s in International Law and International Affairs from Ohio University and a Doctorate in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies at the University of Geneva. He has also received honourary doctorates from numerous institutions worldwide, including the University of Khartoum and the University of Al Gezira.
• He is also an accomplished author, having written several books, including his memoirs My Nile Odyssey and Five Deaths by the Nile, and works on intellectual property and international law, such as Intellectual Property: A Power Tool for Economic Growth.

Al Burhan also added two women to the council. He reappointed Salma Abdel Jabbar Al Mubarak and named Nowara Abo Mohamed Mohamed Tahir to the governing body.

Sudan is currently the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, driven by an ongoing war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began on 15 April 2023. The conflict has displaced over 12 mn people and left more than 150,000 dead. This includes approximately 8.9 mn internally displaced within Sudan and 3.4 mn who have sought refuge in neighboring countries such as Egypt, Chad, and South Sudan. According to the UN, over 30 mn people – including 16 mn children – are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.