This article was published for the first time on the symposium on Women orgnised by Darb al intifada


Women and Politics in Sudan

The contributionof Ms.Magda Mohamed Ali


Dear DA Symposium Coordinator,

Salaam,

Please allow me to take this opportunity to thank you for organizing this on-line symposium. I would also like to thank all participants who have contributed to the forum.

 In my contribution, I will not state the situation of Sudanese women or describe how they are discriminated against, because others had already done that. Participants in this symposium, by default, are the ones who are concerned about the women's participation, but that does not means others are not.

I would like to start with two fundamental facts:

 (1) It is the first time in our modern history that all parties and different political factions (not all of them) had come to work together before they jump to power, after the Sudanese masses lead the change to democracy in Sudan ! This is a very healthy environment, and gives the chance for these groups to be prepared when time come to implement what they worked out instead of fighting on who should be doing what or getting what. This situation is the only chance that we as women have to also work our agendas and push it through the different parties and factions in the NDA.

 (2) The creation of an organization like Darb Alintifada was a result of the fact that most of the progressive Sudanese who strongly believe in a democratic Sudan are not sure that the NDA will be trusted to accomplish a new Sudan and truly democratic, while the NDA is keeping the same faces and structures !

Having said that doesn't mean I do not think that we should not work through and within the NDA. I strongly believe that NDA is in a better position now than ever. A lot of progress has taken place within its structures due to the fact that the NDA had the opportunity and time to work things out as I mentioned above. But I also believe we had to develop other structures that will keep the pressure on the NDA ongoing and keep it on line.

We also have to work within the existing parties to strengthen the female membership in these parties to play a more active role. What are the strategies to do that? I have no answer at this time, and I hope we continue the debate about these issues.

 May be one way to keep the discussion going is by having a quarterly on-line discussion or may be the DA Coordinator can group the suggestions from all the contributions and come up with a series of topics to be addressed on an ongoing bases.

 Asma Abdelhalim mentioned in her contribution that the Sudanese women are so diverse and can not be lumped in one group or class which is very true and I can not agree less with it. This statement lead to the fact that we need as many organizations as we could have. Not the Sudanese Women Union neither any other organization can claim that they can represent the Sudanese women. So what can be done and/or what do we need to do?

The creation of NGOs working in all aspects of women lives where you have full time staff who works professionally and not just voluntary. The reason I am saying that is because I think part of the NIF success is that they have the resources to work and recruit their followers. For now I might suggest a formation of a committee as part of the NDA that would look at the different laws related to women and families and make sure they are not in any conflict with the United Nations Human right treaties.

Professor Sondra Hale has raised an important question in her valuable contribution. What type of organizations are we looking at? The need to develop a non-formal and non-traditional women organizations at all levels of women lives. What are the women coping systems to survive the changing situations they are facing every day? All participants to this symposium have agreed that political organizations are important but can not be the only representatives and they can not attract every woman. Even women who are part of these political bodies are not always willing to work with grassroots women. What ever we had now is not enough and is not adequate to address the complex situation of Sudanese in general and women in specific. I should make my self clear here, I do not want to give the impression that only women are the ones who are responsibleto solve the women's problem in Sudan. When I use the term WE, I mean every one, males and females who are part of the women struggle. Under Nimarie's regime and during the Intifadah, SWU tried to organize women depending on where they are and what their needs are? A variety of projects had evolved from this experience which I should mention some examples here, such as neighborhood consumer cooperatives, neighborhood perfume Sandooq and the professional offices. These organizations were developed and run by SWU and non Union women who felt the need for them.

 The reason I mentioned this is just to confirm what Prof. Sondra wrote, that there is no one way to organize women and that what we have on hand now is not and will not be enough. There is no way that any one can prescribe how or when such organizations can be developed. The only way is to be involved in the women's activities at different locations and stages. Be open to whatever structures will evolve due to these activities.

What can we do to help? Being actively involved in facilitating the process, the question is how far can we, as leaders in the field of women activist, get involved in shaping what structures might come out as a result of this involvement.

 There are two major areas of concerns to me, one is how we in the Diaspora can be organized in ways which will enable us to contribute to what is happening inside and outside Sudan from our own stand. This issue is very related to what Dr. Nazik had mentioned in her contribution about forming our own theory and standpoint, our active participation in what is happening in our locations, how can we bring women issues to the front lines of the struggle agenda and make it clear that, it will not be solved as a result of getting rid of the NIF regime.

Magda Mohamed Ali


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