Education focus of Sudan International Women’s Day gathering

Education and the need for the return of technical, industrial and agricultural, and illiteracy schools was one of the main areas of focus by speakers at the forum of the alliance of women politicians held at the general headquarters of the Sudanese Communist Party in Khartoum yesterday.

Held to celebrate International Women's Day, speakers at the gathering demanded the convening of a national conference to discuss the problems of education.

Ladder and curriculum

Faiza Nugud called for reviewing the educational ladder and educational curriculum, training of teachers and the return of the intermediate stage. She stressed the need for the withdrawal of academic subjects which cause attention deficit to the minds of pupils, and to free them of ignorance, superstition and hypocrisy.

Female genital mutilation

The initiative of “No to Oppression of Women” called the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney General and the Judiciary to repeal the public order act for violating the country's Constitution and international obligations, the enactment of laws that criminalise and punish violence against women, enactment of deterrent penalties for the rape crime, criminalisation of violence against girls and drafting deterrent provisions in the Child Act to criminalise female genital mutilation, this along with considering the age of marriage at 18 years.

Memorandum

On Wednesday the initiative representatives submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney General and the judiciary. Yesterday they carried out a protest in front of the Ministry of Justice to draw attention to the demands of the initiative.

Also the memorandum called for the release or trial of detainees and the prohibition of arbitrary arrest or detention on suspicion, along with the application of the principle of equality in all walks of life and the abolition of all laws that advocate for inferiority of women.