Reports from Sudan

[Original (October 27, 2021); Translated by J. Tsuchiya/A. Taguchi] Background of the coup in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan On October 25, 2021, military forces detained Prime Minister Hamdok along with several other ministers, gaining power in the coup. In Sudan, after the political change in 2019, the military and civilians agreed to share power for the transition to civilian rule. But due to a slumping economy with an inflation rate of 300%, it prompted complaints and people criticized the current transitional government. The political situation got worse in September. Because of the alleged attempt of a coup, the government detained about 40 military officials and civilians who had…

Read more

Our Vocational Training Program Begins

[Original by Ko IMANAKA, Sudan Project (September 15, 2021); Translated by C. Rosenberg] In South Kordofan, Sudan, there are many young people who have been unable to get an education or learn skills that will help them find work due to conflict in the region. In addition, it is not easy to find a job in Kaduqli, where there are few job opportunities for people who need to support their families because their parents have passed away or live in rebel-controlled areas. Because of this, many people work in agriculture during the rainy season, and charcoal-making during the dry season. However, such a lifestyle is very difficult in Sudan, where…

Read more

Schools Closed due to Another Armed Conflict: Students’ and Teachers’ Reflections

[Original by Ko IMANAKA, Sudan Project (June 9, 2021); Translated by C. Rosenberg] JVC runs five supplementary schools in Kaduqli. At the end of March, an ethnic conflict broke out in Shair district, which is near one of the schools. A group of herders were traveling with their livestock when a dispute with the locals over water for their livestock broke out, which descended into a gunfight. The Sudanese Armed Forces were dispatched to the scene, but the locals blocked the roads and set checkpoints for the passing vehicles in resistance. Soon after, the following events occurred: A man uninvolved with the conflict who came to Kaduqli for a wedding…

Read more

Activities and Status Report During the Corona Pandemic

[Original (March 26, 2021); Translated by K. Adachi/A. Taguchi] JVC runs supplementary classes for the children of refugees who lost the opportunity for education in Kaduqli, South Kordofan State of Sudan. Kaduqli is a region that has experienced conflicts for a long time and the importance of education is being emphasized in order to build a society that does not rely on violence. This year, we constructed multiple school buildings and donated desks and chairs. Considering the risk of infection from the new coronavirus, elementary schools in Kaduqli are currently dispersing the students for each grade level. We will continue to collaborate with the Ministry of Education and related parties…

Read more

Protecting the community’s foundations!- Learning about life in Kaduqli from the ground up –

[Original by Ko IMANAKA, Sudan Project (December 25, 2020); Translated by C. Rosenberg] Along with the supplemental classes we offer the children, we held a workshop for the parents and general community to discuss maintenance of the community’s public property. Behind our idea to hold a workshop is the reality that many facilities, installed through the support of the government, the United Nations, and NGOs, are unusable due to a lack of community management and maintenance. Evidence of the neglect is everywhere: a hand pump well rusting away after years of disuse, a mismanaged water-supplying facility left inoperable after its solar panels and generators were stolen, and school desks and…

Read more

Filling in the Blanks: Education in the Age of COVID-19 and Military Conflict

[Original by Ko IMANAKA, Sudan Project (December 24, 2020); Translated by C. Rosenberg] In March of 2020, Sudan’s Ministry of Education decided to close all schools nation-wide in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In the state of South Kordofan, where JVC operates, the school attendance rate is low and many children, mainly refugees, do not attend formal schools. To address this issue, we started providing supplemental classes in January this year with the goal of giving children who have not attended school enough academic ability to transfer to formal schools. However, with the closure of schools nationally, by the middle of March we were left with no choice…

Read more

Armed conflict in Kaduqli – Emergency food support by JVC

[Original by Ko IMANAKA, Sudan Project (June 17, 2020); Translated by E. Miyazaki/A. Taguchi] In my previous blog, I wrote about an armed conflict between different ethnic groups and how it evolved into an attack towards the civilians in each village. In this blog, I will report about JVC’s emergency food support for the evacuees. Surveying the evacuees in the Hil Jadeeda region The number of registered evacuees is often not precise since a survey is done by the local government right after incidents occur and when people are still in unstable situations or confusion. While taking these government reports into account, it is necessary to investigate in more detail…

Read more

Armed conflict in Kaduqli – What happened to residents who once lived in the same community

[Original by Ko IMANAKA, Sudan Project (June 11, 2020); Translated by E. Miyazaki /A. Taguchi] In mid-May, an armed conflict broke out between Arabic herders called Hawazma and a Nuba ethnic group referred to as Angolo, in which at least 26 people died and left many wounded. Many civilians including a two-year-old boy and two of JVC staff’s relatives became victims. JVC had long been supporting the people who evacuated from the conflict between the government of Sudan and anti-government forces in 2011. The region where those people live was also recently severely damaged. There is tension in the atmosphere: violent attacks with rifles and rockets, destruction of houses and…

Read more

Changes in the lives and voices of the local people under COVID-19 pandemic in JVC’s project site, Kaduqli

[Original by Ko IMANAKA, Sudan Project (May 7, 2020); Translated by E. Miyazaki /A. Taguchi] In the previous blog, I wrote mostly about the influence of COVID-19 in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, but in this blog, I am going to tell you about the situation in Kaduqli one of JVC’s project sites. Influence of COVID-19 As of May 6th, there are no reported cases of COVID-19 in South Kordofan which has Kaduqli as the state capital. However, the state was left behind from growth and development by the government and had been affected by conflicts for a very long time. Because of this, the medical standards in Kaduqli are…

Read more

Changes in the lives and voices of the local people under COVID-19 pandemic in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan

[Original by Ko IMANAKA, Sudan Project (May 7, 2020); Translated by E. Miyazaki/A. Taguchi] The COVID-19 global pandemic has now reached Sudan. By today (May 6th), the number of infected persons and the number of those who died have reached 852 and 49, respectively. I will report on the current status of infection, the government’s countermeasures, and the opinions/situation coming from the city. Trends in the number of infected persons and the government’s drastic action The speed of action of the Sudanese government is much faster than that of the Japanese government. To prevent clusters of infection, many countries in Africa including Sudan are taking forceful measures at an early…

Read more