Education

In March 2007, the Education program held two workshops in Khartoum, Sudan that focused on providing citizenship and leadership skills to groups of young people from all over Sudan.

Participants respond to questions at the National Center for Peace and Development in Khartoum.
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The first workshop was held in partnership with the National Center for Peace and Development and featured a large group of youth from Darfur. Linda Bishai and Jacqueline Wilson collaborated to produce a joint workshop encompassing discussions of democratic principles in the Sudanese context, stereotyping, decision-making, negotiation skills and approaches to conflict. There was even an active simulation on the Bosnia conflict in which participants role-played a situation involving the timing and nature of post-peace agreement elections. The style of the workshop was very interactive, with opportunities for participants to express viewpoints, have discussions and engage in group projects together.

The second workshop was held in collaboration with the Institute for the Development of Civil Society at the College of Sharq El Neil, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The participants belonged to a UNDP-sponsored youth forum, created to engage young leaders in sustained discussions and activities about development issues important to them. The youth forum group is very diverse, and participants of this workshop represented many different parts of Sudan. The Education program worked with the Institute for the Development of Civil Society to produce a workshop agenda that was responsive to concerns expressed by the members of the forum. The workshop included sessions on basic human rights concepts, elements of democracy and citizenship, acceptance of the other, and essential leadership skills. The workshop included by request a presentation by an expert on election systems from the Sudanese Election Commission, which generated an energetic discussion among the participants. Again, the style of the workshop was interactive and participants were frequently asked to work in small groups and to make presentations.