News
2024 May We are grateful to Mr Alex and the late Mrs Felicity Duncan for their generous donation to The Sudanese Programme. Their much appreciated support over the years has been helpful to the Programme.
2024 April It is with profound sadness to announce the death of Anthony Anis Haggar in London on Friday 5th April. Anthony succeeded his father in the running of the Haggar's business establishments in Sudan and South Sudan. The Haggar family have been philanthropists who supported worthy causes in both these countries. Their dedication and commitment to promote various businesses and charitable organisations has been admirable.
Anthony was a friendly and sociable person. Like his father, Anis, and grandfather, George, he was a popular and likeable person.
His death is a great loss to the Haggar family and to friends in Sudan, South Sudan and elsewhere. He will be much missed and remembered by many. We send our heartfelt sympathy and condolences to his wife and children, to his parents and to the wider Haggar family. May he rest in peace.
2024 April It is with sadness to announce the death of Professor Wendy James (Johnson) who died on 27th April. Wendy started her career teaching Social Anthropology at the University of Khartoum and finally at The Institute of Social Anthropology, and became a Professional Fellow at St. Cross College, University of Oxford. Wendy undertook extensive research on the Uduk tribe of South Sudan followed by research in Ethiopia. She will be remembered for her dedication to her students and her commitment to the cause of South Sudan, to the Institute of Social Anthropology, to St. Cross College and to The Royal Anthropological Institute of which she was a former President. She will be much missed by her family, colleagues and friends. We send our deepest sympathy and our sincere condolences to her family. Our thoughts are with them during this sad and difficult time. May she Rest in Peace.
2023 August It is with sadness to report the death of Mrs Margaret Henry. Margaret was a supporter and frequent attendee of The Sudanese Programme's events since its establishment in 2002. Her association with the Sudan as it was then, continued over many decades. She had many friends from Sudan and South Sudan. She will be missed by family and friends.
Margaret, a film maker, was the Administrator of Sudan Democratic Gazette which was published by the Chief Editor and publisher, Bona Malwal. She helped in preparing this important journal for publication which ceased publication some years ago.
We send her family our deepest sympathy and our condolences.
May She Rest in Peace.
2024 January We are sad to announce the death of Arop Madut (1945-2024) who was born in South Sudan but died in Oxford, UK, as a result of successive medical problems. Arop was a journalist, author and human rights activist. He received his education in South Sudan and North Sudan and he worked in both countries. Then he pursued studying journalism in East and West Berlin, and the City University (London). After teaching for a period of time, he took up journalism professionally and he was jailed a number of times for his human rights views and work.
After leaving South Sudan he settled in the UK and particularly in Oxford where he was a respected member of the Sudanese community. He was a regular attendee of the Sudanese Programme's events and took part in discussion on issues that interested him. Arop was a warm-hearted, sociable and friendly person. He will be much missed by his family in South Sudan and the U.S.A. and by friends in South Sudan, the UK and elsewhere.
On behalf of the Sudanese Programme we send his family our deepest sympathy and condolences. Our thoughts are with his family during this sad and difficult time.
May he Rest In Peace.
2023 March What is happening in Sudan is tragic and sorrowful. Sudanese back at home are facing horrendous circumstances never experienced before. Our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones and to those who have been injured. We hope that common sense will prevail so that the country is spared further destruction and deaths.
2023 March It is with pleasure to announce the birth of a daughter, Athieng, to Makol (a Trustee of The Sudanese Programme) and Ameer. We send them and their respected families our warmest congratulations. We wish mother and baby good health and happiness to all of them as a family.
2023 March It is with great pleasure to announce the wedding of Dr Noon Altijani (a Trustee of The Sudanese Programme) and Dr Frank Tianyi. We wish them happiness and prosperity in their life together. We send them our warmest congratulations.
2023 February It is with regret that I write to let you know that Dr Herman Bell has passed away. Our deep sympathy and condolences to his family. Herman was a regular attendant at The Sudanese Programme's events. He is well-known for his commitment to Nubian culture, language and research. His publications attest to this. He will be much missed by his family, colleagues and friends in the UK, Sudan and elsewhere. May he rest in peace.
2022 November We sadly report the passing away in November of John Oliver Udal (1926-2022) who like his father (Assistant Director of Education) and his daughter, Joanna (a Church of England priest serving in South Sudan), served as a member of the Sudan Political Service (SPS) as Assistant District Commissioner for the Shilluk Kingdom. His early career was in the Irish Guards and after the Second World War he joined the SPS in 1950. He remained in Sudan until 1954 when he returned to the UK where he served in various capacities in the public and private spheres.
John attended the early events of The Sudanese Programme. He was able to meet some of his colleagues in the SPS as well as Sudanese, and he made friends to whom he related his experiences in South Sudan.
He will be missed by his friends and by his family to whom we send our deep sympathy and our condolences.
May he rest in peace.
2022 November It is with sadness to report the passing away in November of Dr Abd Al-Rahman Ahmed Al-Bashir (1934-2022) following a COVID infection. He died in exile in Michigan, USA. He was born in Merowe, northern Sudan, educated in Sudan, and in 1978 he completed his thesis on refugees in eastern Sudan for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford (St. Antony’s College).
His early career was in local government in Darfur, in Blue Nile Province, in Juba and as an Executive Officer, Merowe Rural Council. He served, on secondment from Sudan Government, in Abu Dhabi Municipality and as Advisor on Local and Municipal affairs, Sultanate of Oman. His interest in refugees and their settlement began in 1964 when he was appointed as Resettlement Officer at Wadi Halfa Resettlement Commission. In 1969 he was project Manager, Eritrean Refugees’ Settlement in Eastern Sudan. From 1970 until 1982 he became Commissioner for Refugees, and again in 1988.
Abd Al-Rahman established the Commission for Refugees with the assistance of his Deputy, the late Ahmed Karadawi, and it became an important research and policy centre: not only for Sudanese but also for non-Sudanese who sought help and advice on the problems of refugees and their settlement.
With the advent in 1989 of the defunct and much hated military regime of Al-Bashir, Abd Al-Rahman was replaced by a military officer with no experience in the study and problems of refugees in Sudan. He lived in Sudan for a while and then moved first to live in the UK, and then in the United States where his family continue to live.
Abd Al-Rahman was a competent, honest and dedicated civil servant. He was helpful, likeable and popular. Sudan lost a person whose commitment to Sudan was never in doubt and who did not deserve to be living in exile. His experiences would have been very valuable to any Sudanese government.
Our deep sympathy and condolences to his family in the USA, in Atbara and in Merowe (both in northern Sudan). He will be much missed by family and friends.
May he rest in peace.
Al-Baraka Fikum
2022 July We are delighted to announce that Makol Bona Malwal (a Trustee of The Sudanese Programme) and Ameer Keer Bol were married on Saturday 23rd July 2022 in London. On behalf of The Sudanese Programme we wish them happiness, prosperity and a joyful life together.
2022 April The Trustees of The Sudanese Programme express their thanks and appreciation for the donation made by Mr Alex Duncan. He and his late wife, Felicity, have been supportive of the Programme's activities and objectives for many years. We are grateful for his continuing generous support.
2021 October The Trustees of The Sudanese Programme express their thanks to the School of International Development, University of East Anglia, for its contribution of £900 towards the cost of the event "The Plight of the Merowe Dam-Affected People: Stories from the Manasir" which was held on Thursday 23rd September 2021 as a ZOOM webinar.
2021 April We are grateful to Mr Alex and the late Mrs Felicity Duncan for their generous donation to The Sudanese Programme. Their much appreciated support over the years has been helpful to the Programme.
2021 April 8th It is with great sadness and regret to announce the recent death of Mrs Suhair Sharif in Khartoum, Sudan. Suhair was a pillar of the Sudanese Community in the United Kingdom and of the Umma National Party in particular. She was cheerful, friendly, helpful and generous. Suhair was a supporter, in many ways, of the Sudanese Programme since its establishment in 2002. She was a political and social activist. Suhair will be much missed by her family and her friends in the United Kingdom, Sudan and elsewhere. On behalf of the Sudanese Programme we send her husband, Ambassador Isam, and her family our deepest sympathy and our condolences. May She Rest in Peace. Al-Baraka Fikum. Our thoughts are with her family during this sad time.
2020 November It is with much sadness that we announce the death of Imam Sayyid Sadig Al-Mahdi, former Prime Minister of Sudan. He died in the United Arab Emirates following Covid-19 infection. Imam Al-Sadig was internationally recognised, a democrat and he had a long political career interrupted by periods of imprisonment. He was a speaker at the second event of the Sudanese Programme in 2002. Subsequently he came a number of times to deliver presentations on major issues of Sudan’s political present and future performance. We are grateful for his contributions. He will be much missed by his family, by his friends and colleagues; by the Umma Party and by Sudanese and others in Africa, the Middle East, Western Europe and other countries. We send our deepest sympathy and condolences to his family. May he rest in peace. Al-Baraka Fikum.
2020 November It is with much sadness that the Sudanese Programme announces the death of Berhane Woldegabriel. Berhane came from Eretria and lived in exile in Sudan and the United Kingdom. He held a number of posts in teaching and in helping refugees. He regularly attended events of the Sudanese Programme where he made friends and contributed to the discussion concerning a number of issues which arose in these events. He was a warm-hearted and friendly person, and he will be much missed by his family foremost and by many friends in the United Kingdom and abroad. We send his family our deepest sympathy and condolences. May he rest in peace.
2020 October With great pleasure the Trustees of The Sudanese Programme announce the election of Mr Anis George Haggar to a life-long Senior Membership at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University. Mr Haggar is a Trustee and co-Founder (together with Ahmed Al-Shahi and Bona Malwal) of The Sudanese Programme. The College has recognised his contributions to the Programme and to the College and his philanthropy in general. We warmly congratulate him on this deserved appointment.
2020 September Canon Ian Woodward, Chair of the Salisbury-Sudans partnership writes that the Church of England Diocese of Salisbury has enjoyed and continues to enjoy a partnership link with the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan. In the present Covid-19 crisis they have responded to the needs caused by the severe degradation of the economy, by providing funds for projects such as emergency feeding programmes and emergency hygiene programme; providing PPE materials and water dispensers. Some £80,000 (UK Pound) has been raised from the Churches in the Diocese of Salisbury and beyond and goes towards those who most in need: this money is being shared equally between Sudan and South Sudan. The Sudanese Programme congratulates the Diocese of Salisbury on its admirable commitment to the needy people.
2020 June It is with sadness that we announce the death of Felicity Duncan who with her husband, Alex, have been supporters and generous benefactors of the Sudanese Programme over the years. We send Alex and the Family our deepest sympathy and condolences. May She Rest in Peace.
2019 We are pleased to announce that Dr Mohamed El-Ansari, one of The Sudanese Programme's community members, has published a book:
El-Ansari, M. (2019) University Social Responsibility in Transnational Higher Education: The Case of International Branch Campuses. Access Press UK.
2019 We are grateful for the recent contributions made by Mr Alex and Mrs Felicity Duncan; Mr Anis Haggar (a Trustee of The Sudanese Programme) and Dr Ahmed Elias.
2019 Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi (a Trustee of The Sudanese Programme) was presented with a certificate of appreciation by the Sudanese Nubian Association UK for his longstanding work on the Sudan and The Sudanese Programme. This took place during the Association's festival held in London in December 2019.
Send us your news We welcome news items from The Sudanese Programme community. Please send your suggestions to Dr Ahmed Al-Shahi: namlas159@gmail.com. News items on the whole should be related to the Two Sudans or The Sudanese Programme and will be included on our website at the discretion of The Sudanese Programme.