Contact Information
- Where – Sudan (Northern Africa)
- Website – www.ruyaassociation.blogspot.com
- Contact Person – Zeinab Blandia
- Email – ruyablog46.yes@gmail.com
- Address – Block 3E, Kadugli Town, South Kordofan, Sudan
- Other – Louise Hogan – l.hogan6@nuigalway.ie
Areas of Expertise
The Ruya Association has expertise in a range of areas, including:
Main Aims and Objectives
Ruya Association recognises the potential of women to act as peacemakers both within and between their communities and Ruya aims to equip them with the necessary skills which enable them to do so. Ruya Association also believe that all women should be educated, no matter what life stage they may be at. Central to all Ruya’s projects are five key areas it is identified as being of utmost importance in furthering the position of women in society in South Kordofan:
- Security,
- Capacity building,
- Human rights,
- Economic empowerment,
- Peacebuilding.
Upholding the Principles of Conflict Transformation
Central to Ruya’s approach and common to the Principles of Conflict Transformation is the idea that conflict can provide a society with many opportunities; in Ruya’s case, the opportunity to change the role of women in Sudanese society. Ruya has enacted projects that aim to harness the difficulties caused by conflict and transform them into methods of changing society. These projects range from very simple, such as the creation of Women Solidarity Fund Groups, to the more complex, such as the training of illiterate women in solar technology. Ruya’s Women Solidarity Fund Groups were established in refugee camps around South Kordofan, where women from different tribes would meet once a week to share coffee, taste each others food and learn about each others traditions. This simple rituals served to forge links across warring communities and led to bonds between the women who later often intervened to prevent violence between their respective tribes. In a more ambitious project, Ruya worked with rural villagers for months to convince the tribe elders to allow four illiterate grandmothers to study solar technology at the Barefoot College in India for six months, returning to electrify their rural communities and neighbouring villages.
Where and with Whom
Ruya was established in Omdurman, Sudan where Ruya worked in refugee camps with displaced peoples from the South Kordofan region of Sudan. Following a cease fire between the Sudanese government and rebel forces, Ruya moved to Kadugli town in South Kordofan where it works around the wider Nuba Mountain region. Recent conflict in June 2011 forced us to relocate to Kampala, Uganda due to a very serious security threat. In Kampala, Ruya are working with one of its main partners, SIHA Network (www.sihanet.org) to reestablish its work in South Kordofan once more. Ruya hope to be back on the ground by March 2012.
Main Activities in the Field of Conflict Transformation
As well as the projects previously mentioned, Ruya has established literacy groups and workshops in refugee camps across the region for young people and women of all ages. Ruya believes education cannot be put on hold for years because of conflict and also that by educating young people in refugee camps, they will be less susceptible to engage with rebel groups in the area and more likely to forge other methods to find peace.Ruya also established micro financing groups run by and for women in South Kordofan, again based on the idea that all life cannot halt during conflict. By allowing women to establish small businesses, it provided them with new found confidence and independence and led to them taking a more visible role in their societies.
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