2021 – Working for a Better Future

In this blogpost, we feature the January 2021 message from our Country Director, Mrs Neimat Issha, pictured above. Although we face huge challenges this year, as Neimat explains below, there are many reasons for hope. We are incredibly grateful to Neimat, Adila and all our colleagues in Khartoum as they battle daily to move our programs forward.

Neimat’s January Message

The Economic Situation The Impact of Covid on Education

Our Literacy and Orphans’ Programs Our Teacher Training Program

The Economic Situation

“The economic situation in Sudan continues to deteriorate even though Sudan has been removed from the USA’s State Sponsors of Terrorism List. Inflation in November/December reached a staggering 254% and this has translated into more suffering for the Sudanese people, who now struggle even more than before to afford the most basic goods and necessities. People queue for hours outside bakeries to get bread. There is a severe fuel shortage and government lifting of subsidies on fuel has made transport and traveling even more difficult and expensive.”

See too https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/ffc-sudan-2021-budget-will-lead-to-economic-collapse See more on the impact of Covid on the Sudanese economy and health in Coronavirus Sudan Stepping Back from the Abyss 4 The Impact on Women. Coronavirus Sudan Stepping Back from the Abyss 3 – Lockdown

Above, our literacy coordinator, Mrs Adila Osman working on our Covid-19 prevention outreach campaign last year. See On the Front Line Coronavirus Prevention.

Impact of Covid-19 on Education

“Despite the increase in Covid-19 cases, the Higher Committee for Health Emergency in Sudan decided to re-open schools on 10th January for grades 8 and 11. These years were opened in October 2020 but closed again at the end of November as the second wave of Covid-19 took hold. Other years; 1-7, plus years 9 and 10 have remained closed since last March.”

For more on Covid-19, see https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/covid-19-dangerous-spread-continues-in-sudan

“State universities are also closed, although some private universities are giving their courses online. Ahfad University is offering courses on a week-on, week-off basis, with students divided into two groups. The wearing of face masks is compulsory there.”

Above, some of our sponsored orphans at elementary school.

Our Literacy and Orphans’ Elementary Schooling Programs

“Our literacy circles are sadly still closed as they fall within the Higher Committee for Health Emergency but we do expect that all school years and our literacy circles will resume their studies before the end of February this year. Meanwhile we are working with the elementary schools we support on an agreement to enable schools to contract builders and materials to carry out much needed repairs to four flood-damaged schools. Work will start with Amna Bint Wahab School at Hajj Yousif and Hassan Ibn Thabit in Jebel Awlia in the coming weeks. We will send more news on this, together with photos as soon as we can.”

See more on our literacy and Orphans’ programs in “A Woman is a School” “A Woman is a School” 2 From Hardship to Hope Our Orphans Schooling Program Rebuilding Hope

Above, one of our literacy circles in action.

Our Teacher Training Program

“We are currently preparing the formal agreements necessary to begin our teacher training program. This is an exciting project for us and will enable us to train 300 elementary school teachers from some of the most deprived communities in Khartoum. At the moment, we are working with schools on the selection of teachers eligible for the program and with the Ministry of Education on the recruiting of expert trainers. We very much look forward to our program beginning in mid-March.”

Above, Dr Leila Bashir training our literacy workers in dynamic teaching strategies.

This is a literacy post for Women’s Education Partnership. 

See Latest News and At a Glance for more about our work.