Kamil Idris

Kamil El-Tayeb Idris Abdelhafiz (Arabic: كامل الطيب إدريس, romanized: Kamil Altayib 'Iidris; born 26 August 1954) is a Sudanese statesman, scholar, international civil servant and politician who has been the 16th prime minister of Sudan since 2025. He previously served as Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) from 1997 to 2008 and as Secretary-General of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).

Educated in Sudan, Egypt, Switzerland, and the United States, Idris joined the World Intellectual Property Organization at the age of 28 in 1982. He became the Director General in 1997 and served for 11 years until 2008. He later left the WIPO and returned to Sudan to join politics. He was an Independent candidate in the 2010 general election, coming in sixth place.

In 2025, amid an ongoing and devastating civil war, Idris was appointed prime minister by the Transitional Sovereignty Council under President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. He thus became the first civilian prime minister of Sudan since Abdalla Hamdok's resignation three years earlier in January 2022.

According to a document prepared by the Office of the UPOV, Kamil Idris holds a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from Khartoum University, a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Political Science and Economic Theories from Cairo University, a Master in International Law and International Affairs from Ohio University, and a Doctorate in International Law in 1984 from the then University of Geneva-affiliated Geneva Graduate Institute. Franklin Pierce Law Center in the United States awarded Idris an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree in May 1999. In 2005, Idris received an honorary Doctor of Letters from Indira Gandhi National Open University in India.

Idris joined WIPO on 30 December 1982. Idris was member of the International Law Commission from 1992 to 1996 and from 2000 to 2001.

On 22 September 1997, he was appointed Director General of WIPO for a period of six years. Idris succeeded Árpád Bogsch, who served as Director General for 25 years. The Director General oversees WIPO's efforts for global intellectual property protection.

In March 1998, Idris visited the United States Congress and met with the United States Secretary of Commerce to discuss safeguarding and promoting American ingenuity, and he received an official welcome by Congress. In 2001, Idris, along with Mihnea Motoc, signed a Program of Cooperation between Romania and WIPO.

He was formally re-appointed to a second six-year term as Director General of WIPO on 27 May 2003. The same year, he inaugurated the new Center For Intellectual Property at the University of National and World Economy. In 2006, Idris negotiated a cooperation program between WIPO and the Government of Azerbaijan.