Miss Nuba Mountains campaigns against skin bleaching

A Sudanese activist from the Nuba Mountains has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of skin bleaching creams and asks dark-skinned girls to embrace their natural skin colour. 'The visual media play a role in this phenomenon.'

Natalina Yagoub, who won the title of Miss Nuba Mountains in 2015, said in an interview with Radio Dabanga that the initiative targets young women and men. For one, because girls with dark skin should become aware of the beauty of their natural colour, and not to resort to the use of creams for bleaching. “They whiten it as an imaginary colour for themselves.

“Also young males should become aware of this, and exercise wisdom in choosing a partner for their live with the aspect of morality and natural appearance; not a false one.”

She claimed that women who used skin bleaching creams may end up as spinsters because men are reluctant to marry them.

The campaign, called “No for creams, no whitening and be yourself” has received support from more than 700,000 people on Facebook, Yagoub said. “The initiative started in Khartoum but soon crossed borders and has become globally known, thanks to various media.”

'Diversity is the secret to success of other nations.' – Miss Nuba Mountains

Sudanese media play a negative role, Yagoub stressed, in encouraging women to have a light skin. “Especially the visual media encourage the phenomenon and highlight women with a lighter skin while mostly ignoring others.”

Therefore Sudan should include women from all skin colours in the media and employ cultural, religious and ethnic diversity which the Sudanese people enjoy in a positive manner, Yagoub appealed.

Skin bleaching

The condemnation of dark skin in Sudanese society and its association with an unwanted “African” appearance has driven a large majority of the country’s women to bleach their skin, The Guardian wrote in an interview with Miss Nuba Mountains in 2016. In 2000, the dermatology section of the Khartoum hospital was pushed to open a “bio-clear” ward to treat the host of patients suffering from severe burns due to their use of whitening creams.