BIOGRAPHIES OF CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS
PEACE IN SUDAN: WOMEN MAKING THE DIFFERENCE
HOSTED BY INCLUSIVE SECURITY: WOMEN WAGING PEACE
OCTOBER 2004

Achol Cyer Rehan is the director of Women's Associations of Gogrial County in southern Sudan. She organizes women in their efforts to increase opportunities for economic development, education, and peace building. In 2002, under Ms. Rehan's leadership, the Women's Associations of Gogrial County partnered with the Boston-based humanitarian group, My Sister's Keeper, to develop two grinding mill projects in the villages of Panliet and Akan. She has served as a liaison between southern Sudanese villages and soldiers’ camps, sending small delegations of women to the camps to advocate for an end to the violence. She facilitated dialogues between northern and southern Sudanese women regarding rights to dry season grazing lands. By coming to an agreement in advance, the women avoided a renewal of conflict. In November 2003, she was elected chairwoman of the Women’s Association of Bahr El Ghazal, where she has been able to extend her ingenuity, resourcefulness, and energy to women’s associations throughout southern Sudan.

Afaf Ahmed Al-Rahman was appointed to the Sudan parliament by the Sudanese government from 1996 to 2000. Ms. Al-Rahman currently works for the Women’s Center for Peace and Development. Her work is centered on developmental issues related to women in Africa. She is an active member of Raidah Al Mafdah (Pioneers of Reform) in Sudan, which focuses on women’s issues in Sudan and encourages reform in the Sudanese government. Ms. Al-Rahman holds a master’s degree in economics and international relations.

Agnes Nyoka is the coordinator for Sudanese Women’s Empowerment for Peace (SuWEP), a Kenya-based organization that engages women in dialogues regarding the Sudanese peace process. She has participated in numerous conferences relating to peace in Sudan, including the Ethiopia-Sudan Development Marketplace and Knowledge Forum in February 2003. As a guest speaker representing the Sudanese Women’s Mission for Peace at the conference, she shared her expertise on the importance of the link between government and civil engagement of the local community. Ms. Nyoka is also affiliated with the Sudanese Women’s Christian Mission for Peace and participated in a Racism and Gender Conference in September 2001.

Amel Gorani is the executive director of Sudan Future Care - Amel Trust in Asmara, Eritrea. Ms. Gorani is a representative to the United Nations on behalf of the National Federation of International Immigrant Women’s Associations and has taken part in numerous United Nations international conferences and commission sessions. Ms. Gorani served as a member of the Group on the Image of Africa, a consulting group elected by and affiliated with the Information Department at the Swedish International Development Agency. She was a coordinator for the Sudan Solidarity group at the Stockholm University Student Union and was a consultant on the Report on Gender and Racism for the Swedish National Board on Integration. She also served as the national coordinator and conference organizer for the European Women’s Lobby “Mobilizing Young Women” project. Ms. Gorani received her master’s degree in political science from Uppsala University, Sweden.

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Amna Elagib Adam is manager and gender-based violence focal point for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Geneina, Darfur. As a social worker and human rights activist, she works with women and children in rural Darfur communities. Ms. Adam conducts trainings on family support, counseling, and organizational advocacy and mobilization. In conjunction with other UN groups and NGOs, she works to address issues of gender-based violence and violence against children, serving as an intermediary between the Sudanese people and UNDP. In the field, Ms. Adam does skills-building training activities such as cooking, sewing, and handicrafts. She also focuses on rule of law issues by training police, tribal and local leaders, youth, government representatives, humanitarian workers, and medical staff. Formerly, Ms. Adam was the assistant secretary for the National Council for Child Welfare and coordinator of health education at the Ministry of Health for the Western Darfur State. She is a founding member of the Darfurian Women’s Group. Ms. Adam has a post-graduate diploma in development studies from Holy Ghost College in Kimmage Manor, Ireland and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and pre-school education from Ahfad University for Women in Khartoum, Sudan.

Awut Deng Acuil was a member of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement’s (SPLM’s) negotiating delegation at the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) peace talks. She is cofounder of the Sudanese Catholic Bishops Regional Conference (SCBRC), the Sudanese Women’s Association in Nairobi, and the Sudanese Women’s Voice for Peace. Ms. Acuil worked with the New Sudan Council of Churches to establish conflict resolution initiatives and peace agreements between clashing Sudanese groups. She established the Pankar peace and good governance grassroots initiative. Ms. Acuil was the secretary of information for the West Bank Peace Council in the Bahr el Ghazal region and was awarded the InterAction Humanitarian Peace Award for her efforts in building peace and women’s rights in Sudan. Ms. Acuil has been a member of Inclusive Security: Woman Waging Peace since 1999.

Durria Mansour Elhussein is a lecturer at Ahfad University for Women, and formerly the University of Khartoum, where she also received her PhD. Originally trained as a zoologist, Dr. Elhussein is the current deputy chair of the Sudanese Women’s Empowerment for Peace Network. An expert on issues related to conflict and development, Dr. Elhussein has organized and participated in numerous international conferences and trainings, including the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing and the World Movement for Democracy General Assembly Meeting in Durban, South Africa, where she was elected as steering committee member for the Africa Democracy Forum. Dr. Elhussein conducts conflict resolution trainings with various groups throughout Sudan, specifically focusing on women in rural areas. Dr. Elhussein was a coordinator for a joint project with Babiker Badri Scientific Association for Women's Studies and for Oxfam on women and development. Dr. Elhussein has published multiple articles and training manuals on the role of women and peace building in Sudan.

Eiman Seifeldin is an activist for women and children's rights in Darfur. At this time, she works through the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM). She has established the Darfur Women's Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, an NGO focusing on the psychological rehabilitation of raped women and children, and the implementation of educational programs for youth. She is a member of the executive board of the Darfur Relief and Documentation Center, an advocacy-focused NGO based in Geneva. She received her degree in environmental science from Omdurman Ahlia University and was employed by the university for three years. Over the past several months, Ms. Seifeldin has completed a large number of interviews in the international media in order to draw attention to the violations facing women and children in Darfur.

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Kezia Layinwa Nicodemus has been the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) commissioner for women, gender, and child welfare for the past four years. The only female holding a senior leadership position in the SPLM, she focuses her efforts on mobilizing women and making their voices heard in the Sudan negotiating process. As a keynote speaker at the Sudanese Christian Conference for Peace and Unity in Houston, Texas in 2002, Ms. Nicodemus discussed her efforts to help refugee mothers. She actively appeals to the international community to specifically focus on girls and women in development strategies in Sudan.

Maha Sheriff is originally from El Fasher in the Darfur region of Sudan. She graduated from the Ahfad University for Women in Khartoum with a degree in Psychology and Teaching English as Foreign Language (TEFL.) She also obtained certifications on human rights, gender based violence, and peace building. Ms. Sheriff has worked with the United Nation’s World Food Programme in the Darfur region since 1996. Currently, she coordinates several internally displaced peoples (IDPs) camps, working specifically with victims of gender-based violence. She registers and coordinates services for IDPs, in collaboration with UN agencies, as well as international and national organizations. Her responsibilities include data collection and reporting on the status of the IDPs. Previously, she was associated with the United Nations International Labor Organization where she specialized in field level community development programs. Ms. Sheriff is a member of the Darfur Women’s Solidarity Society, which helps to give donors and other concerned bodies a full picture of the situation of women in the IDP camps.

Muna Khugali is the coordinator of the Sudan National Women’s Convention, which convened in Kampala in 2002 and brought together 120 women from different conflict areas. Ms. Khugali is the founder of Sudanese Women Against Violence, an organization working with Sudanese women refugees in London. She is a member of the Civil Project of Sudan, which focuses on human rights issues in Khartoum. Also, as a member of the Civil Forum of Sudan, Ms. Khugali assists in the establishment and organization of conferences centered on human rights. Ms. Khugali is a doctoral candidate at the University of Westminster in London.

Priscilla Joseph Kuch is a member of the Peace and Justice Committee of the Sudan Council of Churches. Dr. Kuch is cofounder and one of 12 executive committee members with the Southern Women’s Group for Peace, where she served as secretary and organized numerous workshops regarding the Sudan peace process, specifically for women. Since 1986, she has served as a consultant and facilitator of training seminars for various organizations including Oxfam, GOAL SUDAN, Abieyi Peace Committee, and many others. She has done extensive course work at Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia on the fundamentals of peace building, philosophy, methods of conflict research, refugees, humanitarian assistance, ethnic identity, and conflict transformation. Dr. Kuch has authored several papers including, “Search for Sustainable Peace in Sudan,” “Understanding the Civil War: Role of Media in Peace Building,” and “South-North Conflict.” Dr. Kuch is a medical doctor on the teaching faculty at the University of Khartoum.

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Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf currently teaches at Tufts University in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Dr. Abusharaf is a fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where she is developing policy recommendations relating to war-displaced women. Dr. Abusharaf focuses on security, human rights protection, and the cultural strategies adopted by displaced women to cope with violence and dislocation, particularly resulting from the lengthy civil war in Sudan. While a visiting assistant professor of African and Gender Studies at Brown University, Dr. Abusharaf completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research. Dr. Abusharaf’s numerous publications include Wanderings: Sudanese Migrants and Exiles in North America, one of the first books devoted to the experience of Sudanese immigrants and exiles in the United States.

Samia El Hashmi is a practicing attorney and leading advocate for women’s constitutional rights. Ms. El Hashmi cofounded Mutawinat Benevolent Company, which provides legal aid to women and children in Khartoum. As a result of her extensive legal work, the organization received an award from the Third General Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in January 2004. Ms. El Hashmi is also a member of the Sudanese Women’s Civil Society Network for Peace, which develops and implements strategies to integrate women’s voices into the Sudanese peace process. In 2002, she drafted gender-related components of the Machakos Protocol, the peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). She has organized and facilitated numerous workshops for women’s organizations to increase their awareness of the peace process in Sudan. Ms. El Hashmi has been a member of Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace since 1999.

Sandra Opoka is a board member of the Sudanese Women’s Empowerment for Peace and chairperson of the Non Partisan Group. She has worked with women throughout Kenya, Uganda, and Sudan, elevating them as leaders to promote their roles in local and national decision-making processes. Formerly, Ms. Opoka served as a network officer at the Sudanese Women’s Voice for Peace, where she trained women leaders and created an extensive network of women’s organizations dedicated to advancing human rights and reconciliation in Sudan. She is a trained conflict resolution expert and received a diploma in gender and women’s empowerment at the Institute of Social Work and Community Development in Nairobi.

Suzanne Samson Jambo is the NGO coordinator for New Sudanese Indigenous Network (NSIN), comprised of 42 southern indigenous Sudanese non-governmental organizations. The NSIN is a forum for southern Sudanese civil society groups to address pertinent issues such as human rights, participatory governance, socio-development matters, and post-conflict strategies and advocacy for a just and lasting peace in Sudan. Ms. Jambo helps indigenous Sudanese women’s NGOs integrate international, regional, and local human rights provisions that are gender-sensitive into their programs. She is the author of Overcoming Gender Conflict and Bias: The Case of New Sudan Women and Girls, published in October 2001. She has worked with international organizations such as Amnesty International, the UN Children’s Fund, and the UN World Food Programme. Ms. Jambo holds professional degrees in law and applied social sciences.

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