Learning from Mutual Aid Efforts in Sudan

Disrupting Peace

How can someone help their neighbors and community when a war breaks out? Today we’re seeing what we can learn from mutual aid efforts in Sudan.

Omar al-Bashir ruled Sudan for three brutal decades, from 1989 until he was overthrown by a peaceful revolution in 2019. In 2023, a civil war broke out between two warring parties, the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. Emergency Response Rooms - not to be confused with hospital emergency rooms in the west - are temporary mutual aid networks that have emerged to provide resources critical to the survival of everyday Sudanese people.

Omima Jabal is a leader in the ERRs - emergency response rooms - in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum. She also initiated the 'Infinitive of Teaching English Language' program, which allowed around 500 individuals to study English despite living in a warzone. Learn more about Omima’s work here: https://khartoumerr.org

Alex de Waal is executive director of the World Peace Foundation, and among the world’s leading experts on the Horn of Africa – which includes Sudan. From 2005-2006, he worked with the African Union mediation team for Darfur, and from 2009-2011, he served as senior adviser to the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel for Sudan. Learn more about Alex’s work here: https://worldpeacefoundation.org/team-member/alex-de-waal

Disrupting Peace is a production of The World Peace Foundation. The show is produced by Bridget Conley and Emily Shaw. Engineering by Jacob Winik and Aja Simpson. Marketing and Social media by Emily Ruhm. Show artwork by Simon Fung.

Special thanks to Jeremy Helton, Lisa Avery, B. Arneson, and Alex de Waal, and the team from the Tufts Digital Design Studio, including Kimberly Lynn Forero-Arnias and Miles Donovan.

Find out more about the World Peace Foundation at worldpeacefoundation.org. Follow us on Bluesky at worldpeacefdtn.bsky.social, and on Instagram at @worldpeacefdtn.