{"id":20120692,"date":"2025-09-10T18:58:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T16:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20120692"},"modified":"2025-09-10T18:58:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T16:58:42","slug":"siha-sudanese-women-at-the-centre-of-economic-war-and-systemic-exclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/siha-sudanese-women-at-the-centre-of-economic-war-and-systemic-exclusion","title":{"rendered":"SIHA: Sudanese women at the centre of \u2018economic war and systemic exclusion’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Report by Jared Wedge-Thomas<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Women in Sudan and across the Greater Horn of Africa face entrenched barriers to land, healthcare, financial systems, and social protection, experts warned at a regional webinar organised by the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event, part of\u00a0SIHA\u2019s #ItsNotYourFault<\/a>\u00a0campaign, explored how exclusion from resources fuels inequality and deepens women\u2019s vulnerability to conflict and poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSudan is facing not just a military crisis, it\u2019s an economic war and\u00a0women<\/a>\u00a0are at its centre,\u201d said Sudanese researcher Mariam Moussa of Shared Planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presenting her study with 58 women across five cities, she explained: \u201c88 per cent of surveyed women experienced looting directly or indirectly. One in three women surveyed [was] displaced more than once, cutting them off from economic opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She described how displacement strips women of their livelihoods and status. \u201cIt takes their businesses, their land, their roles as community figures,\u201d she said. \u201cThe impact of war on income and livelihoods is not abstract, it\u2019s deeply personal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moussa underlined that women are keeping families alive through \u201csurvival economies of collective saving and labour, but these are largely\u00a0unsupported and invisible<\/a>.\u201d She added: \u201cResilience cannot replace justice, investment or political inclusion. Women want justice in economic, social and political forms. Women must be at every negotiation table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sudanese women and child refugees in Metche camp, Ouaddai, eastern Chad (File photo: Karl Schembri\/NRC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Laws versus reality<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyn Ossome, Associate Professor at Makerere University, criticised the gulf between progressive policies and the lived experiences of women. \u201cDespite such extensive laws\u2026 do we see such glaring disparities\u2026 in equality outcomes for women and girls,\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She noted that \u201cwomen\u2019s bodies [are] some of the most legislated in the world\u201d yet rights are \u201cundermined by the\u00a0exploitative structures<\/a>\u00a0of the world of work.\u201d \u201cMore women than ever are entering the world of work, under much worse conditions,\u201d she said. \u201cThe spirit of the law does not match the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the United Nations Development Programme, \u201cwomen make up 69 per cent of internally displaced persons,\u201d with \u201c43 per cent of women in urban households and over 50 per cent among internally displaced people\u201d active in women\u2019s associations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Darfuri women farming in Feina, North Darfur (File photo: Olivier Chassot \/ UNAMID)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Grassroots resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Testimonies from SIHA\u2019s regional hubs revealed the daily struggles of women navigating war and economic collapse. In Kassala, participants reported: \u201cWe faced a lot of challenges in relation to women and girls\u2019 activities, specifically regarding economic and health challenges.\u201d They added: \u201cWomen have opened their own markets and bazaars to rise to these challenges but lack sufficient spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In South Sudan, SIHA\u2019s country coordinator Jackline Bage stressed that \u201cdiscriminatory laws prevent women from inheriting properties, disenfranchising them and hindering them from\u00a0protecting themselves<\/a>.\u201d She also emphasised safety concerns: \u201cSometimes even when a school is available, the road there is not safe enough to travel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ugandan activist Moureen Wagubi urged governments to take responsibility. \u201cThe government sees informal sectors where women actually are collaborating in various social safety nets and cooperatives,\u201d she said. \u201cLet us stop patching holes in broken systems and start building foundations that last.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The webinar closed with a call for structural change. Moussa stressed: \u201cA feminist economic system has emerged as women work together to find solutions in the absence of the state. But resilience cannot replace justice.\u201d<\/p>\n