Sudanese women: another chapter of resilience and resistance

Online event – register here. 
14 March at 1pm EST / 7pm Sudan time.

On 15 April 2023, war broke out in Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, soon spreading to other parts of the country. After ten months of fighting, almost 14,000 people have died and over eight million people have been displaced. The negative impacts on women and gender equality have dramatically increased and need to be immediately addressed. 

On the other hand, Sudanese women have exhibited remarkable resilience, standing in solidarity with each other and organising themselves to provide protection and support.  

You’ll hear directly from four Sudanese women activists who’ll share their analysis of the current situation and what they and other women’s rights organisations are working on to advance women’s rights and gender equality in Sudan.  

They will put forward recommendations to complement and support their efforts to protect women, enhance their economic and political participation, and advance a gender-transformative peace. 

The event will be moderated by Yosra Sabir, Sudan Country Director for Internews. The speakers are:

Samar Abushama

Samar is an advocate and enthusiast for youth, women’s and peace issues. She believes in research and documentation as a tool for advocacy in achieving peace and transitional justice in Sudan. She does that by being a project manager in Adeela for Culture and Arts, as well as an independent writer on feminist and peace issues. 

Karima Fathelrahman Abdien – Programmes Manager at Sudanese Organization for Research and Development (SORD)  

Karima Abdien is a social anthropologist and gender specialist, working as programmes manager in the Sudanese Organization for Research and Development. She has more than 15 years of experience in the area of women- and gender-related issues in Sudan, having worked in research, training  and project management.  She is committed to furthering Women’s / human rights and gender equality , peacebuilding, good governance, democracy transformation and conflict resolution globally, particularly in Sudan. 

Reem Abbas 

Reem Abbas is active in the women’s movement in Sudan. As a journalist, Reem has contributed to dozens of outlets including the Washington Post, the Nation, Al-Monitor, the Guardian, openDemocracy and African Arguments. As a writer, she has published numerous essays, articles and reports, and co-authored the book (Un)Doing Resistance: Authoritarianism and Attacks on the Arts in Sudan’s 30 Years of Islamist Rule, published in 2023. She is currently a Nonresident Fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy focusing on land, conflict and resources in Sudan, and in 2023 was an inaugural Sudan Democracy Action Researcher at the AMEL project. Currently, she is a communications coordinator for the Mobilising Men for Feminist Peace programme at the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

We'll also be joined by a woman peacebuilder from a Darfur partner organisation.

Register here.