Keep Eyes on Sudan: Mass Displacement, Food Insecurity, and Sudanese Women
Join the Georgetown African Studies Program, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, the Georgetown Conflict Resolution Program, and Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security for the first event in a series of programming on Sudan.
The people of Sudan continue to face unprecedented displacement, violence and a looming famine as the War enters its 15th month. The country faces massive displacement, with more than 10 million people forced from their homes. At the same time, the war has also resulted in a collapse of basic food systems, and there is a looming famine, with at least 18 million people in acute food insecurity. While a political settlement seems unlikely at this point, Sudanese citizens on the ground, both inside Sudan and in neighboring countries, and supported by the Sudanese diaspora, have facilitated networks of humanitarian aid, as well as efforts to bring more international and regional attention to the war. In the fall panel, we seek to highlight the urgency of the need, but also the creativity and capacity of Sudanese humanitarians, even in the face of global disinterest and neglect. In particular, we highlight the ways that women and girls have been impacted and also the leadership of women in meeting needs of communities and in peacebuilding and the important role they can have in any current and prospective peace talks. This event will be moderated by African Studies Program adjunct professor Abdullahi Halakhe.
Speakers:
Reem Abbas is a Feminist activist, researcher and writer. As a writer, her book (Un)doing resistance: authoritarianism and attacks on the arts in Sudan’s 30 years of Islamist rule was published last year and her latest essay titled Smuggling Books into Sudan: a Brief History from 2012 to 2016 was published in the Art and Solidarity Reader: Radical Actions, Politics and Friendships. As a researcher, she conducted research on the women’s movement in Sudan and issues related to peace and security.
She is a former Nonresident Fellow at Tahrir Institute on Middle East Policy focusing on land, conflict, and resources in Sudan and a former member in the coordination committee of Sudanese Women in Civic and Political Groups (MANSAM). She is now a communications coordinator at WILPF where she co-hosts the Mobilising Men for Feminist Peace (MMFP) podcast and works on many cross-cutting programme components.
Hala Al Karib is the Regional Director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA). Born and raised in Sudan and later Canada, she currently lives in Uganda. Versed in human rights, women studies and psychology, Hala’s work specifically focuses on women and girls’ rights activism, social movement, as well as refugees, displaced persons and minority community’s challenges. She is the Editorial chief of SIHA’s Journal—Women in Islam in the Horn of Africa. In addition to SIHA, Hala has worked with numerous international organisations in Sudan, East Africa and the Horn of Africa.
Abubakr Omer leads transformative initiatives to cultivate self-reliant communities in conflict and climate-impacted regions. His focus is on designing solidarity-based models within agrifood systems to drive comprehensive economic development. With extensive experience across public and private sectors, civil society, and academia, he forges strategic partnerships and transborder collaborations to meet localized needs and drive systemic change.