Sudan

A women's advocacy network recently highlighted Sudanese women's rights with a presentation to an African human rights commission. The rights group, called the Strategic Initiative on Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), wants Sudan to amend the Criminal Law of 1991 and abolish the penalty of lashing.

During his campaign in Gazeera State in early April, President Bashir vowed to maintain the Public Order Regime when he returned to office. Furthermore, the Sudan public order police have formed new committees to develop and set criteria for acceptable women's dress and behaviour and to identify the types of violations with which women will be charged.

Sudan's first multiparty elections in 24 years, which wrapped up earlier this week, fell short of international standards but should be recognized as an important step forward for the nation, observers said Saturday.

The Sudanese people began voting Sunday in an election that will decide whether President Omar al-Bashir wins another term despite his indictment on charges he committed international war crimes in Darfur.

An advance team for the first ever all-female contingent of police officers to UNAMID arrived in Khartoum from Namibia yesterday to begin preparations for their deployment to Darfur.

The 17 newly-arrived police officers are expected to be joined later this month by 13 others, all of whom will be conducting patrols in and around IDP camps and training local residents in community policing.

While the normalization of diplomatic relations between Chad and Sudan and the signing of a cease fire and framework for peace negotiations between the Sudan government and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) are being heralded as critical steps towards peace in Darfur, there is still a long way to travel to resolving the ongoing crisis in Darfur, writes Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate, founder of the Green Belt Movement and

Southern Sudan army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) has been accused of killing and raping civilians in Central Equatoria state.

According to Nhial Bol, Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Juba-based The Citizen newspaper, in a news report he published on Monday, said residents of Terekeka County of Central Equatoria state have accused the forces of the SPLA of raping women and girls in their villages.

Nearly 500 Sudanese female candidates are actively participating at different levels for various seats ahead of Sudan's April elections - a sign that the country may be gradually accepting the participation of women in leadership.

The next two years will be critical in determining Sudan's future. The country faces national elections in April, the first multi-party elections in 24 years, and a referendum on southern independence in January 2011.