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A year after Bashir’s fall, the struggle for Sudanese women continues

Editorial / Opinion Piece / Blog Post

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July 1, 2020

A year after Bashir’s fall, the struggle for Sudanese women continues

Source: Wilson Center

By Reem Abbas,

In a recent meeting between Sudanese women activists and members of the central committee of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), Sudan’s current ruling coalition, women were given myriad justifications for their exclusion from the country’s political scene. One FFC member said that Sudanese society will not accept a female governor while another renowned politician confirmed that government posts are given to those who are qualified; insinuating that women simply do not have the qualifications to occupy decision-making positions.

As a Sudanese woman who has devoted all her energy to advocacy for political change for the last decade using all platforms at her disposal, I, like many of my counterparts cannot simply brush aside our collective feeling of being used and discarded.

For years, Sudanese women were the backbone of the revolutionary efforts in Sudan. During the 2019 protests that led to the fall of Omar Al Bashir, they were the force that kept momentum going for over seven months. We were on the streets protesting, keeping protesters safe and sheltering them as gunshots were blasting. We also supervised the logistics of the sit-in in front of the army headquarters. And we did so in an inclusive manner; working through women’s groups, professional unions, political parties, and civil society organizations.

Click here to read the full article published by Wilson Center on 11 April 2020.

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By Reem Abbas,

In a recent meeting between Sudanese women activists and members of the central committee of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), Sudan’s current ruling coalition, women were given myriad justifications for their exclusion from the country’s political scene. One FFC member said that Sudanese society will not accept a female governor while another renowned politician confirmed that government posts are given to those who are qualified; insinuating that women simply do not have the qualifications to occupy decision-making positions.

As a Sudanese woman who has devoted all her energy to advocacy for political change for the last decade using all platforms at her disposal, I, like many of my counterparts cannot simply brush aside our collective feeling of being used and discarded.

For years, Sudanese women were the backbone of the revolutionary efforts in Sudan. During the 2019 protests that led to the fall of Omar Al Bashir, they were the force that kept momentum going for over seven months. We were on the streets protesting, keeping protesters safe and sheltering them as gunshots were blasting. We also supervised the logistics of the sit-in in front of the army headquarters. And we did so in an inclusive manner; working through women’s groups, professional unions, political parties, and civil society organizations.

Click here to read the full article published by Wilson Center on 11 April 2020.

Region
Focus areas