Sudan

Overview

The Humanitarian Forum initiative was first introduced to Sudan in 2005. Over 140 local Sudanese organisations participated in the workshop. They described their isolation from the international development community and exclusion from civil society debates as the fundamental challenges faced. This common need legitimised the formation of a Humanitarian Forum Sudan.

A needs assessment workshop followed. Participants were divided into groups, with each discussing the organisational structure of the forum, its legal framework and its responsibilities both on a national and international level. A direct outcome of this workshop was an election of a steering committee. The composition of the group mirrors the diverse Sudanese civil society.

Activities

A two-level workshop was organised in August 2009 in Khartoum to increase the organisation's representative membership. While the first attracted a wide range of organisations, the second was designed to target southern organisations. The workshops attracted 44 new organisations, all of which have expressed their interest in joining the forum.

Since the workshops, the steering committee has met to discuss the involvement of the new members. It was agreed that a series of workshops would be organized with the dual purpose of developing local capacities and building trust among the diverse members. The group agreed that the workshops will be tailored to the needs of organizations with similar institutional capacities. Representatives from old and new members, as well as from southern and northern organizations will be invited to participate. They agreed that the first workshop would target the medium-sized and intermediate level NGOs. Training in NGO management was reported to be the main area of institutional weakness.

Some of our most important work recently in Sudan has been building bridges between the Sudanese government and international NGOs, some of whom were expelled from the country at the beginning of 2009. The Humanitarian Forum has been working to heal the rifts and bring about understanding between all parties, so that vital humanitarian work can be carried out, with support and mutual respect on all sides. Read more here...