Empowering Women, Empowering Communities

My comment to radio Dabanga's program, Sudanese files, on International Day for Women.

I briefly tackled in 12 minutes the situation of women and economic production in two areas: food and beverage selling, and agricultural production.

On International Women's Day, I salute women of all parts of the globe in general and Sudanese women in particular; for their patience, resilience, and hard work. For the key roles they play in development; the constantly whistling steam engine of life in the family and community. Salute to wonderful moms with the full-time job for their lifetime of unpaid labor. To those who are the first to wake up and the last to close their eyelids in the houses, my sincere respect, and salutations.

Mothers' around the globe are identical in the roles they play. From my own experience, I can describe it in one phrase: \"THE TOUGHEST IN THE WORLD\", gracefully acted with kindness, compassion, insight, and delicacy, all coexisting within a shell most unforgiving of fragility. As the saying goes \"when life gives you lemons, make lemonade\".

As the famous Sudanese poet, Mahjoub Sharif wrote in one of his poems:

She turns the rotten into innovative

Brings something out of nothing

And the community remains up-to-date

Commenting on the role of women in production necessitates mentioning her being \"double-burdened” with the responsibility of fulfilling her dual roles in life and economy. Everybody knows this. However, first I would like to acknowledge her reproductive role and its great immeasurable effect on family and community consequently. Second, the perceptible and imperceptible roles she plays in terms of domestic labor. Starting from household management including washing cooking keeping the house tidy, and revising lessons with her kids, and watching over patients.

Her significant economic role was apparently clear in the 1960s and 1970s and until the beginning of the 1980s when she was the main labor force in the confectionary and textile factories. She was contributing to providing both state and community hard currency by promoting local production to the importing docks of every nation.

Unfortunately, in the late eighties and early nineties, the situation had witnessed a drastic change. Pushed by the need to find contemporary means of eking out income after the stoppage of factories, women turned to Individual consumer activity based on personal initiatives. Not to forget the economic and security factors that shaped Sudanese society since the mid-1980s, and had their severe toll on women and family at large. For the first time, Sudan had witnessed female exodus into unforgiving sections of the markets to work as tea and food sellers. They work under unimaginable conditions; directly beneath the scorching sun's hard blows, with a noticeable scarcity of transportation, potable water, and bathrooms. I put the stress on bathrooms because these women's daily working hours exceed 12h.

With some minor help, they can work their way out of poverty and become a potent force for change. Allocating places at the head of every street to allow these women to exercise their professions is not a big deal for Khartoum authority. However, it ignored these demands and, instead, this segment of women are faced with Kashat(sudden police raids), confiscation of their objects, fines, and sometimes imprisonment. This happens under the pretext of distorting the face of the \"civic capital.\"

In that sense, women in rural areas play a major role in securing food for their extended families. Indeed, they are the backbone of the Sudanese economy; their participation ranges from 82-90% according to Arab labor organization. Female farmers' activities are not typically limited to planting, weeding and harvesting food crops and tending livestock, etc… They play a major role in household animal-production projects and food industry.

Regrettably, despite the role they play, tons of chronic problems hinder their march. The disparity between them and their male counterparts is a permanent obstacle. It is difficult for them to get access to services and fulfill their potential. For example, they have rare access to bank resources, besides land ownership and inheritance problems. The problem is not only that they have half the male's share of land, but formal ownershipis rarely given to them out of fear that the land ownership might transform to the husband's tribe, especially if he is not from the same clan.

In these communities, women are always facing poverty, illiteracy, and reproductive health problems. Lack of effective medical services and means of rapid transport in case of emergency are everyday difficulties women are facing and, at times, cost them their lives.

The mainstream media does not specify adequate space for covering women's issues. The absence or seasonal coverage of women's issues in media is the norm. A media strategy that shoulders combating stereotyping and inferiority perception to women's work as well as combatting high literacy rate in rural areas is necessary.

How can we help women themselves?

Through campaigns aimed at empowering women and raising their awareness about economic, legal, political and economic rights. One way is enabling them access to bank loans. There is no doubt that micro-credit loans and skill training create work for matriarchs in addition to establishing enterprises, improving their economic situation, and recognizing the importance of dual roles.