Empowering young citizens in Sudan through democratic education

The main objective of the EU-financed project ‘Strengthening Young Citizens in Sudan through Democratic Education’ is to increase youth participation in the democratic process and to contribute to the establishment of a credible and legitimate democracy in Sudan. It aims to help students understand democratic processes and the importance of their participation in the election process, may elections be finally organised in Sudan.

Objectives

The project aims to allow young first-time voters to participate in future elections in a well informed and critical manner, and to formulate and voice their demands clearly in front of parties and governmental institutions, challenging the latter to actively take into account what future generations want and need from them. The overarching idea is to strengthen the principle of democratic competition ahead of the elections. The project is implemented by the German foundation, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES).

More specifically, the project seeks to

• strengthen the capacity of first-time voters (in view of possible future elections) and increase their knowledge about the issues at stake in the electoral process and civil rights
• raise awareness on the interests of young people in Sudan among political decision-makers

Project activities

• Workshops on civic and political education
• Conducting studies to gather information on the scope and thrust of political interests among young Sudanese and offering recommendations on youth policy needs
• Multiplying activities through peer-to-peer gatherings in order to further share concepts and knowledge around civic/political education

Results

Workshops and other activities have resulted in a 60% representation of women involved as lecturers, coordinators as well as participants. Furthermore, the project core team itself is 60% female.

An added value of this action is that it ensures the inclusion of many segments of the young population, i.e. young people from different economic and social backgrounds, students, but also the grassroots level.

The project has been selected among the 60 projects presented at the 2022 Paris Peace Forum.

Partners 

• Khartoum University (one of the oldest and the biggest universities in the country)
• Ahlia University (one of the most politically active universities)
• Ahfad University (a well-reputed women only university)
• Red Sea University (the biggest university in the country’s East in Port Sudan)
• Bahri University (one of the oldest and biggest universities in Sudan)

Implementing organisation: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Sudan