The Sudanese summoned a huge amount of sarcastic and angry expressions, following the announcement of the participation of the Sudanese Minister of Social Development, Ahmed Adam Bakhit, in the meetings of an international committee discussing women’s issues at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The Minister of Social Development, headed a senior Sudanese delegation to the meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women, the 67th session at the headquarters of the international organization, and participated as a keynote speaker in the ministerial round table on his country’s efforts and best practices for women’s access to technology, innovation and education in the era of digital transformation.
Interactors on social media in Sudan intensively discussed the Sudanese minister’s participation in the UN forum with feelings of a mixture of sarcasm, anger and disapproval.
What “made things worse” and raised the levels of discontent and cynicism, is that the minister’s participation in the aforementioned meeting coincided with the celebration of International Women’s Day, which falls on March 8 of each year.
The minister’s participation was met with disapproval, and many users of social networking sites in Sudan were surprised by the insistence to participate in a delegation led by a man, wondering why the government or the ministry did not allow a woman to appear and speak on behalf of the government delegation, at least, in honor of Sudanese women, because the meeting coincides with the anniversary For International Women’s Day.
Sudanese women also have a long history and a rich and honorable record of participating in public affairs in Sudan. They are among the first women in Africa and the Middle East to win their right to run and vote in the ballot boxes in the general elections after the October 1964 revolution.
During that period, Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim stood under the dome of Parliament, after being elected as the first Sudanese woman, but the Sudanese government, apparently, ignored all these bright struggles and acted as if the country was living in the stone ages.
In her turn, the head of the No to Women’s Oppression Initiative, Engineer Amira Othman, directed sharp criticism of the Minister of Social Development, and told Al Arabiya.net that the minister and his executive staff both do not have a clear vision of women’s issues in Sudan, especially since laws that detract from women’s rights are still prevailing. The conditions dedicated to the oppression of women are still present, without any significant change taking place in them, and on the contrary, the conditions are getting worse day after day in light of the current circumstances.
