family planning

So... $4.6 billion recently pledged to boost modern contraceptive uptake (an extra 120 million women by 2020)

I think that's a big kudos!

and... apropos, I share this little story...


I was lucky to be involved in finalizing the family planning policy for South Sudan, (1st draft in Nov 2009, then a colleague revived it this year) and it was literally 5 of us in a room arguing about what needs to be in it or out.

one of the key things we stressed in the policy is that contraception is the woman's  decision regardless of what her husband or her family believes/says. This is because we understand that it is women who are at risk of complications of pregnancy, and currently in South Sudan, women are supposed to bear as many children as they can. (Of course there are communities that practice family planning- e.g the Dinka who space children in 2-year intervals... but because the woman abstains for that two years... well, I have issues with that too)

Obviously we knew this will be resisted widely but felt that the policy should explicitly state this- and hopefully as our communities progress, this becomes a moot point.

So.... a couple of months later we were having a workshop with people involved in primary health care (state ministries of health, county health departments, health facility in-charges, etc.- they came from the 10 states of South Sudan) and one guy started talking about how at his health facility  if a woman comes for contraceptives they send her home to bring her husband

*pause*

what?

so the maternal and child health advisor steps up and states that this is actually
not what should happen-  the woman has the right to access whatever method she wants independently of her husband.

This resulted in a huge argument in the room and finally one guy stood up and was like
"Well... that doesn't make any sense. Of course the husband has to decide that's why its called family planning... Otherwise it would be called woman planning..

We have a long way to go....

http://www.economist.com/node/21558564

The Failed State Lobby

so.. my friend in Khartoum sent me this article, with the preamble,
"welcome to the club{Having your country judged, dissected and ripped apart in the media,lol}"

im just gonna post this and leave it here.  Some of the stuff in this article is quite upsetting and I hate the, 'I heard, he said, one policy maker source said, it was reported' tone of it..... and mygod enough of the enough project.


http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/09/the_failed_state_lobby?print=yes&hidecomments=yes&page=full

Interesting article I read today.

http://www.sudantribune.com/US-envoy-urges-S-Sudan-to-resume,43230
This article caught my attention for a number of reasons.
Firstly , my firm belief that both countries are playing economic Russian roulette .The idea that you can starve the other country out of it's position is one I find repulsive.Both countries are trying their hardest top do so.
Secondly , this quote : "However, different sources said the two parties are preparing for a big breakthrough in the talks and they might agree over different pending issues."
 I really hope for a breakthrough in the talks.Both countries can live without oil but living without peace is impossible.

independence mabruk!

as a friend says...

May RSS be blessed for generations to come.
May all of her people, both the "big" and the "small", be responsible in collectively taking good care of the nation they chose to create. Creation is an endless process!   

Happy First Birthday Republic of South Sudan!

Is this revolution ?

Two articles I think are relevant to this discussion:

http://transitions.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/07/05/why_we_re_ignoring_the_revolution_in_sudan

{as posted by akon in her previous post}

http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-used-nerve-gas-on-Friday-s,43175

The million dollar question  is will Sudan actually 'revolt'{the catchy phrased coined by Aljazeera}?

Why is this not widely covered in the  international media?

There are protests.Police and security have cracked down violently.The economy is in free-fall and after 23 years the opposition finally sees an opportunity to overthrow the regime. Sounds simple right?

A few things to consider:

-The protests have not spread widely yet.There is a very real chance that they will at some point.But they haven't yet.The government is very careful not to let the movement catch momentum which in turn leads to little coverage by media outlets which in turn leads to less momentum. Ad infinitum.Also as referenced in the first link,the world has largely painted Sudan as a nation of bigots and 'Arab' oppressors of the 'Black Africans'{which needs its own post}.Any change in this narrative is pretty much swimming against the current

-The opposition in Sudan has been gelded by the government for 23 years.The leaders of the political parties have been jailed,co-opted,bribed,marginalized,ridiculed ,exiled and generally discredited in an endless loop that has most Sudanese regarding them as irrelevant.Hence no viable leadership as an alternative.

-The 'youth movement' {which is a real alternative to stagnant geriatric politicians who would love nothing than to have the government overturned and handed to them}does not have a cohesive and unified voice with a clear platform.

-The economic meltdown has sent prices skyrocketing and people are scrambling to make ends meet .On the cusp of desperation  but not yet at the point of nothing-to-lose.After all most people reason that even with a regime change,the economy will not automatically get better{even if,although doubtful,the economic sanctions are dropped}.

This is not to say that the revolution will NOT happen.As history has shown us numerous times,the slightest events can set in motion the revolution.

Last Thursday, I met with two good friends of mine {one who is involved with the girifna movement}who had participated in the Friday protest referenced in the second article.I consider both trustworthy people and both confirmed that the police and security forces cracked down exceptionally hard on the protesters.They were corralled inside the mosque and bombarded with tear gas and rubber bullets for 7 hours and managed to slip out after dark.Dozens were arrested.The thousands referenced in the article were not mentioned{they said hundreds}neither was nerve gas{which obviously would have come up in the conversation}.

This exaggeration is pretty standard for Sudanese opposition leaders and generally leads to their being dismissed.Which is a shame.No exaggeration was needed at all.The crackdown WAS brutal.People DID show up.Another example was a few weeks ago I was in Port Sudan and watching Alarabiyya news channel{a watered down and agenda driven news channel which models itself after Aljazeera} and reports of violent protests raging in Port Sudan were mentioned.I made it a point to go out and ask{Port Sudan is a very small city,you can walk from one end to another in two hours} everybody about the protests.No one saw anything.This forced talk of popular uprising  leads people to being skeptical about these protests.

However, who knows what the coming days will bring? People are angry,the country is broke and the government acts with impunity and under the assumption it will not be challenged on its policies.After all there is no time for revolution .

Better late than never?

For the past few days I've been trying to organize my thoughts.I have a tendency to rant{a trait shared by the majority of this region's inhabitants}and in a an effort to shift blame I lay the blame squarely on not having a say in this country.Not just me but almost all Sudanese have no say in the direction of the this country.Like a lonely boat buffeted by maniacal fiscal policies{courtesy of our clueless minister of finance},economic embargo{a very stupid American policy},internal conflicts{a natural result of repression and marginalization } , misrepresentation in the media {in search of a quick and simple narrative by lazy and biased reporters}and a lack of a clear direction.{this is not a rant,I swear}.
As a result Sudan is mostly misunderstood and occasionally maligned.
akon has given me a platform  to try and reflect my understanding of my country.I am grateful.
I humbly ask the occasional reader to forgive my rants and procrastination.

July 9 2011- thought id post pics from last year!

prior to referendum vote! there was no campaign for unity at all

Bashir came to open the Embassy of Sudan after the independence celebrations. This used to just by my house

embassy

couple of days later- a football match btw S.S and Kenya. See how high that wall is? I scaled it cause these guys dared me to

Up on the wall taking pictures of the match. How the hell will i get down? these dudes were like, you know we are going to jump right? what are *you* going to do?

Girifna was represented!

stole this image from a devex article

flags galore!

these ladies marched from close by my house to the independence day celebrations, all the while singing and dancing. beautiful

these dudes were running around the field the entire ceremony. we couldn't hear the speeches, anyway

flags galore

garang statue unveiled

one of these copters must have dropped the flag somewhere! the middle one

what's a long day without getting dusty?

That is the question!