Press Statement: Lack of investment in girls’ education undermines their hopes for justice and equality

October 2022

On the International Day of the Girl Child, shedding light on girls’ rights through demanding a clear path for prioritizing their rights in political agendas and including them in every political process is paramount. This year’s theme “Our time is now – our rights, our future,” is an on-going commitment by SIHA network that aims to build girls’ capacities and enable their fruitful participation in the political realm as an integral part of preserving and protecting their rights. SIHA network has worked rigorously with girls throughout the Horn of Africa on addressing their status quo including education, combatting SGBV, child marriage, and all impediments and harmful norms that threaten their well-being.

Education and the lack of investment:

The first wave of girls’ formal education in modern Sudan was initiated by Babiker Badri who opened the first Sudanese school for girls and enrolled his daughters in the year 1903. At that time, Sudanese people were skeptical of girls’ education and Babiker Badri was able to gain people’s trust and demonstrate the dire need for girls’ education in Sudan. Almost 120 years later, the struggles have intensified as girls’ education continues to be jeopardized by the political will of different governmental regimes in the country. Girls continue to suffer as a result of  the lack of investment in their education. The current political unrest and absence of a legitimized government has undermined their access to education and poses further threats to their livelihoods. The latest statistics by UNICEF and Save the Children estimate that almost 7 million children in Sudan are outside of the education system, of which 40% are girls. These alarming statistics demonstrate a crisis of access to education in Sudan, and are likely to yield other harmful consequences for girls including an increased exposure to sexual exploitation, early marriage, and working dangerous jobs, all of which violate their rights under the ratified Convention on the Rights of the Child and the national Child Act of 2010. In the long-run, girls’ access to the full enjoyment of their equal rights and potential may be buried beneath the ramifications of the current heavily militarized status quo, consequently, bright prospects of the whole nation are likely to be diminished. On another hand, the boys who are not able to accessthe education system will eventually join the military forces, RSF, and many of the other armed rebel groups, where gendered  violence will be normalized and they will be conditioned to commit the same crimes the current forces are committing against women and girls including SGBV, rape and killings. Without educating girls and providing a safe environment, their political participation becomes hindered as their voices become lost in the struggles for survival, and their rights remain unattainable.

• SIHA has worked extensively in conflict-affected states in the Darfur region, where we have aimed to improve access to education for internally displaced girls in camps and girls in displaced communities, and Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees.
• The two objectives of the programs were to establish shadow classes for girls who are outside of the education system to enable them to re-enroll in the formal education system, and educating older groups who cannot enroll in the formal education system.
• Vocational training was established to train girls in different occupations with the aim of breaking the long history of occupational stereotypes in Sudan which create significant barriers for women’s participation in many labor sectors.
• SIHA focuses on girls’ education including education on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) to combat child marriage and improve girls’access to health services.

SIHA continues to play a key role in combating GBV, specifically through providing support to girls at risk of child marriage and rape by accessing quality education as well as accessing sexual and reproductive health information and services. Enabling girls to claim their rights and to break free from the repercussions of conflict, injustice and exploitation is a pressing need in Sudan. SIHA emphasizes that in the absence of adequate protection for girls’ education, their political participation is hindered, and girls’ aspirations for the future are heavily constrained.