Events Archive: 2018-2020
New Governments in Sudan and South Sudan: New Prospects
ZOMM Webinar
Wednesday 25th November 2020
Speakers: Dame Rosalind Marsden (former Ambassador to Sudan and South Sudan and E.U. Envoy to the two Sudans) discussing the changes in Sudan; Mr Elhag Paul (Journalist and Activist) discussing the changes in South Sudan; Dr Lual Deng (Director, the Ebony Centre, Juba, Republic of South Sudan); and Ambassador Farouk Abdelrahman Eisa (former Diplomat, Republic of Sudan).
Click the play arrow above to hear the presentations.
Recording courtesy of ZOOM Webinar recordings
Conference

Photography courtesy of Mohamed Nasreldin
The Role of Sudan's Diaspora in Nation Building
Saturday 23rd November 2019
[In collaboration with the Union of Sudanese Communities in the UK and the Middle East Centre, St. Antony's College, Oxford University]
Speakers: Muhammed Zain Al-Abdin on agricultural development and its industry; Hashim Muhammed Ahmed on the future of Sudan railways; Wail Awad Al-Karim on Sudan's alternative health policy; Rasha Gasim on the University of Khartoum; Tariq Ahmed on solar urban planning; Muhammed Sharif on the role of civil society; Khalid Muhammed Abdelgaffar on developing pharmacy transformation; El-Nimairy Ahmed on the role of media in promoting peace and social cohesion; Muhamadain Ali on public health; Ammar Hamouda on Sudan Airways.
Conference
Mass Media and Recent Events in Sudan
Saturday 26th October 2019
[In collaboration with the Middle East Centre, St. Antony's College, Oxford University]
From left to right: Ms Othaylat Suliman, Mr Mohanad Hashim, Dr Marwa Gibril, Professor Munzoul Assal, Ms Yousra Elbagir, Professor Khalid Al-Hroub and Ms Nima Elbagir
Photograph courtesy of Makol Bona Malwal
Speakers: Professor Khaled Al Hroub, Northwestern University in Qatar on Media and the Arab Uprisings: Re-assessment and Conceptualisation; Professor Munzoul Abdalla Assal, Director, Peace Research Institute and Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Khartoum on The December 19th Revolution: Chronology of Events and Anthropological Reflections; Ms Nima Elbagir, Senior International Correspondent, CNN and Ms Yousra Elbagir, Journalist jointly spoke on Covering the Revolution: A Family Affair; Dr Marwa Gibril, Sudan Doctors' Union, UK Branch on The Role of Professional Associations in the Mass Media during the Sudan Uprising: Doctors' Union as Example; Mr Mohanad Hashim, Journalist, BBC, Focus on Africa on Reporting the Revolution and Ms Othaylat Suliman, Broadcast Journalist and Media Consultant on Sudanese Media: Past Constraints and Future Challenges. Chaired by Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi, Professor Walter Armbrust, St Antony's College and Dr Richard Barltrop.
Reflections on Recent Events in the Republic of Sudan
Seminar
Friday 3 May 2019
[in collaboration with the Middle East Centre at St Antony's College, University of Oxford
From left to right: Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi, Dr Sara Ibrahim Abdelgalil and Dr Richard Barltrop
Photo: courtesy of Nazar Eltahir
Speakers: Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi (Research Fellow, St Antony's College, Trustee of the Sudanese Programme); Dr Sara Ibrahim Abdelgalil (Paediatric Consultant, President of Sudan Doctors' Union, UK); and Dr Richard Barltrop (Consultant and Researcher on the two Sudans, Trustee of the Sudanese Programme).
Click the play arrow above to hear the presentations - due to technical reasons beyond our control, please note the recording starts part-way through Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi's presentation.
Recording courtesy of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College
Conversation with the Diaspora: The Future of South Sudan
Conference
Saturday 23 February 2019
[In collaboration with the Middle East Centre at St Antony's College, University of Oxford]
Front Row:
Hakim Dario, Sieta Majok, Victor Joseph, Ahmed Al-Shahi, Noon Altijani
Second Row:
Federico Vuni, Golda Abbe, Anis Haggar, Bol Gatkouth, Makol Bona Malwal
Back Row:
Richard Barltrop, Lako Jada Kwajok, Rosemary Merkaje, Elhag Paul, Andre Kuong
Photo: courtesy of Makol Bona Malwal
Speakers: Andrew Kuong (Former Minister, SPLM/A-10 and Advisor on Political Parties Affairs) on What Triggered the War in South Sudan? Peaceful and Political Settlement in South Sudan; Elhag Paul (Critic of the June Regime) on The New State: What Went Wrong and Why?; Federico Vuni (Chair, Equatorian Community Organisation in the UK) on Peace and Community Cohesion Accountability; Hakim Dario (Chair, People's Democratic Movement) on The Political Future of South Sudan; Golda Abbe (Campaign for South Sudan) on How do we turn Destruction to Production?; Lako Jada Kwajok (Chairman, the International Relations for National Salvation) on The New State of South Sudan; Sieta Majok (South Sudan Analyst, Writer and Activist) on The Impact of Culture; Ms Rosemary Merkaje (Counsellor, Psychotherapist) on Youth and Women; Victor Joseph (Chairman of National Salvation Front, Strategic Policy Secretariat) on What would it take for South Sudanese in the Diaspora to Return Home?; Bol Gatkouth (Former Member of Parliament, SPLM-IO Representative in Kigali, Rwanda) on The Unification of the SPLM Faction and the Future of the Revitalized Peace Agreement. Chaired by Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi and Dr Richard Barltrop.
Inflation: Causes and Solutions
Conference
Saturday 5 January 2019
[In collaboration with The National Centre for Arbitration Conference Hall, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Khartoum, Republic of Sudan]
Speakers: Dr Alreshid Awad Mohamed Fadul (Legal Advisor, Sudan Academy for Banking and Financial Sciences); Dr Saif Al-Yazal Khalifa Babikir (Chairman, National Centre for Arbitration); Dr Siddig Al-Sharif Al-Hindi (Politician). Chaired by Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi; Dr Saif Al-Yazal Khalifa Babikir and Professor Muhammed Zain Al Abdin Osman.
A Rope from the Sky: The Making and Unmaking of the World's Newest State [South Sudan]
Seminar
Saturday 20 October 2018
[In collaboration with African Studies Centre; Center for International Studies; and Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, University of Oxford]
Zack Vertin is centre, next to Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi
Photograph courtesy of Ahmed Abd Al-Rahman
Speaker: Zach Vertin, from Princeton University spoke about his new book, A Rope from the Sky. Chaired by Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi.
Click the play arrow above to hear Zach Vertin's talk.
Recording courtesy of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College
Art, Drama and Film in South Sudan: Influences, Challenges, Possibilities
Conference
Saturday 6 October 2018
[In collaboration with the School of Fine Arts and Industrial Design, University of Juba, Republic of South Sudan]
Speakers: Mr Joseph Abuk, Director, South Sudan Theatre Organisation; Professor Wafa'a H. Onyalla, Dean of the School of Fine Arts and Industrial Design, University of Juba; and Mr Alex Joseph Lubajo, Founder, United Friends for Film and Drama. Chaired by Dr Richard Barltrop, with introductions also from Bona Malwal.
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Celebration of Ibrahim El-Salahi's Artistic Contribution
In Conversation
Saturday 8th September 2018
[In collaboration with the Sudanese Community in Oxford and the Middle East Centre, St. Antony's College, Oxford University]
Speakers: Ustaz Ibrahim El-Salahi; with short introductions from Sayyid Hasan Taj Al-Sirr, on behalf of Ahfad Group in London; Dr Farouk Fadl on behalf of the Oxford Sudanese Community; and Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi, a Trustee of The Sudanese Programme; with live music by Oxford Sudanese musicians (courtesy of the Sudanese Community).
Third from the right: Ustaz Ibrahim El-Salahi
Photograph courtesy of Abdel Ibrahim
In Conversation with Imam Sayyid Sadig Al-Mahdi
Speakers: Imam Sayyid Sadig Al-Mahdi (Former Foreign Minister and Prime Minister) President of the National Umma Party; with short introductions from Sayyid Bashir Ahmed, Chairman, Sudanese Community, Oxford; Sayyid Nizar Ateeg, Shafaq Publishing and Media Production; and Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi, a Trustee of The Sudanese Programme.
Lecture and Audience Discussion
Saturday 1st September 2018
[In collaboration with the Sudanese Community in Oxford, the Middle East Centre, St. Antony's College, Oxford University and Shafaq Publishing and Media Production]
Third from the right: Imam Sayyid Sadig Al-Mahdi
Photograph courtesy of Abdel Ibrahim
Women Journalists of the Two Sudans
Speakers: Ms Othaylat Suliman (Journalist and former Al-Arabiya Sudan Bureau Manager, 2008-2013) on Women: Presence and Constraints in Mass Media; Ms Ayak Chol Deng Alak (Worked for Khartoum T.V. Radio Maria, UN Radio for Peace and Human Dignity and Youth Movement for Change and Social Media, (Republic of South Sudan) on Women, Social Media and Social Change; Ms Christina Jambo (South Sudanese Journalist and worked with Sudan Radio Service as Radio Presenter, 2007-2013) on Freedom of Speech: Challenges Facing Female Journalists and Freedom of Speech in South Sudan; Ms Ayen Bior (Multimedia Journalist for Voice of America's South Sudan in Focus since 2015. She is also the Washington base Reporter for SSIF Radio Programme) on Breaking News and Glass Ceilings: A Conversation on the Gender Gap in Journalism and How Female Journalists in Positions of Power Impact Story Telling; and Ms Taghrid Elsanhouri (Anthropologist Filmmaker and Researcher) on Bitana: Navigating the Sudanese Media Landscape as an Independent Filmmaker.