Ahfad University is the only women's university in Sudan, founded in 1966. It is dedicated to educating women and strengthening their role in national and rural development. Many women graduates from southern Sudan have benefited from it and are helping in the development of this region. Shila Keji Modi gives a better picture of this university.

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Transcript

‘Singing......Ahfad students from the south are saying hallo to you.........'

Former students of Ahfad University now working in south Sudan remembering their song while in the university.

Ahfad University for Women is a private women's university in Omdurman, Sudan. It was founded as a girls' school by Babiker Badri in 1905 and was awarded university status in 1966.

From this humble beginning, the Badri family has nurtured private education in Sudan for over three generations. Babiker's son, Yusuf, carried on his father's work, and in 1966 established the Ahfad University College for Women.

It Begun with only 23 students and a faculty of three, including Yusuf, Ahfad now has an enrollment of over 5,000 students. Professor Yusuf Bedri, who died in 1995, was recognized as a pioneer in the education of women in Sudan.

His son, Dr. Gasim Badri, took over from December 12, 1964 and has continued to expand Ahfad's curriculum and innovations in teaching.During his recent visit to south Sudan, Dr.Gasim was impressed by the impact the former students are making in southern Sudan

Clip Gasim

‘We are very proud actually of our graduates from Ahfad and now they are holding good jobs and responsible positions in different areas, whether in the GOSS or in UN agencies or NGO's and we have graduated over six hundred students from southern Sudan over the years'

According to Dr. Gasim Badri they were very happy that Ahfad University targeted many southern Sudanese....

Clip Gasim

'At Ahfad we are really happy that we have targeted to educate girls from the south, the first girl who came to Ahfad was southerner come in 1971, the same year that I came and joined Ahfad her name was Anisa Joseph Danny, and Anisa after graduating she worked in Sudan and then she went to England and she did her doctorate in university of Manchester and I think she is still working in Manchester, and then the follow of girls from Ahfad come in the beginning of the 80's. Since that time we had students coming from the south then come the war, and the war was intensified and many southerners were dislocated and come to the north as internally displaced people and some lived there. I always admired the southern girls for there rigorous displine their interest in their education and inspite of the hardships that they have been enduring in Khartoum, in omdruman,in hai Jusif, in kalakla,in fiti hab in Abu said in all these areas.'

The goal of Ahfad University for Women is to prepare women to assume informed leadership roles in their families, communities and the nation. Ahfad University for Women works to achieve this goal by offering high quality instruction with emphasis on strengthening women's roles in national and rural development and achieving equity for women in Sudanese society. The former students of Ahfad University are now contributing to the development of south Sudan

Clip-graduates introducing themselves and their work places

Jane Juan Simon, one of the former students of Ahfad University now working with the United Nations mission in Sudan as a child protection officer, says the efforts that Dr. Gasim Badri exert for them could not go in vain...

CLIP-Jane

‘You didn't create people who are baseless but you have created people who will work for southern Sudan, and for the development of southern Sudan and for the nation that will not end. Also during our studying time we were informed that we are going to face many challenges as women, and in many institutions that we are working in we are facing those challenges. But with the education that we got in Ahfad University nobody will just call us you are just a woman.'

Ahfad University they are trying to open centers for women development in southern Sudan the president Gasim Badri explains......

Clip -Gasim

'Well we are trying to open some centers for women development to take care of rural women and women who didn't have education and using our graduates who are many here in Juba, who graduated from Ahfad to use them also to train these women in public health, area nutrition for the children, area of early childhood education, and area of establishing small business for the women.'

Despite the many challenges women continue to face in southern Sudan as well as the need for more women in governance, it's only expected that the government should encourage Universities like Ahfad University which has brought hope and prosperity in the lives of many young women, consequently increase more involvement of women in decision making.