Sudan

There is a lot of room for improvement: The women of South Sudan are among the poorest and most marginalized people on earth.

More than two women die from complications of pregnancy or delivery for every 100 live births, making Sudan the most dangerous place in the world to give life. Girls are more likely to die in childbirth than to finish primary school.

January 20, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The UN on Thursday claimed that the security situation in Sudan's troubled western region of Darfur is improving, but daily reports from its peacekeepers on the ground paint a different picture.

Georg Charpentier, the head of the UN humanitarian mission in Sudan, told reporters in Khartoum on Thursday that the UN had observed “a trend of decreasing overall violent incidents in Darfur.”

Rumbek — Police in Rumbek, the capital of Lakes state in Southern Sudan beat up women who wearing trousers and young men with long hair on Friday. Lakes state police in forcibly cut the hair of men with long hair and cut women's trousers while they were still wearing them.

The Declaration on violence against women adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993 requires states to exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and in accordance with national legislation punish acts of violence against women whether those acts are perpetrated by the state or private persons.

Southern Sudanese are at the polls to decide whether they want to remain part of a united Sudan or to break away and become Africa's newest country. The referendum is taking place from 9 to 15 January, but official turnout figures are not expected until the beginning of February. The outcome, which is largely expected to result in an independent South, will have an enormous impact in both the South and the North.

For the last ten years, Isis-WICCE has carried out case studies and in-depth research in South Sudan, trained women grassroots leaders as well as health workers. This week as the South Sudan holds the historical referendum where they will decide whether to separate from the north, giving birth to a new African state, or for unity, Isis-WICCE's Rosebell Kagumire sought out views and experiences of women from different states on the event.

AMPALA, Jan 13, 2011 (IPS) - John Garang, the revered late leader of the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement, once said that women are the "the poorest of the poor and the marginalised of the marginalised". As the reality of an independent South Sudan approaches, the region's women have vowed they will not remain second class citizens.

The "No to Oppressing Women" Initiative, which focuses on the rights of Sudanese women, was preparing to host a meeting on 13 December at the "Ajras el Horreya" newspaper office to stage a solidarity march for the rights of Sudanese women and to protest the degrading situation of women that are flogged for allegedly "sensual" apparel or for any other trivial allegation brought forth by the Sudanese government.

December 18, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese authorities arrested a rights activist for hosting a meeting to prepare a demonstration against the brutal flogging of a woman by the police disclosed recently through a YouTube video.

With the New Year, we may see a new country born through a referendum that will be held this weekend in Sudan. Today I'd like to share a word from Karak Mayik, my sister who heads Women for Women International's Sudan program and is everyday a hero striving for peace and prosperity in her homeland.