property rights in Sudan: one based on a statutory legal system and one based on a customary system. People who own land under the statutory legal system generally have title to their land, while people who hold land under the customary system generally do not. If a woman is married to a man who has title to his land, and if her husband dies, it is difficult for the widow to acquire title to her late husband’s land in her own name. This has been especially difficult for many female IDP heads of households. Conversely, land that is communal under the customary system is no easier for women to access. It is generally managed by a high-status adult male member of the community, and women can generally only obtain access through a male relative.<sup>13</sup> As mentioned earlier in this report, data from the Arab Barometer (2018) show that there is not a lot of support for equal inheritance rights. The overwhelming majority of respondents, 87 percent, disagree with the statement that “Women’s share of inheritance should be equal to that of men” (Arab Barometer 2018). Having a land title has several advantages, including the ability to use it as collateral to access financing. Limiting women’s ability to obtain land titles limits their ability to access financing opportunities that may help them start a business or finance other productive activities that have the potential to benefit not only their families but also the economy in general. Women and agriculture are discussed in greater detail in Section 6.

# **_National strategies and grassroots initiatives_**

There are currently two Sudanese ministries that specifically address women’s and youth’s affairs: the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Under the transitional government, each ministry is headed by a woman. As mentioned earlier, the transitional government is planning to draft a new Constitution, as well as various pieces of legislation, which may inform the development of new or revised national strategies. For example, shortly after the passage of the 2005 Interim Constitution, the then Ministry of Social Welfare for Women and Child Affairs prepared a 2007 Women Empowerment Policy document which identified six ‘areas of concern’ followed by “institutional mechanisms to operationalize the policy for women empowerment” (Republic of Sudan: Ministry of Social Welfare for Women and Child Affairs 2007). The latter included institutions ranging from the General Directorate for Women and Family, at the national level, to the General Union of Sudanese Women, the largest grassroots organization in Sudan focusing on women’s issues.

While the direction that the transitional government’s laws and policies will take with respect to women and youth is not yet known, there has been a growing movement in urban Sudanese society of educated and motivated women and youth pressuring the government through their work on behalf of local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Some women and youth have worked with these NGOs for ‘watchdog’ reasons while others have worked with them for social service-oriented reasons, for example, the ability to provide social welfare services that the government does not provide. Regardless of individuals’ motivations, Kadoda’s and Hale’s post-2011 research on this subject shows that “womenoriented NGOs” in Sudan are “very active and make up the bulk of civil society” (2015, 221). Accurate numbers of active NGOs are notoriously difficult to obtain. Kadoda and Hale report familiarity with ‘dozens’ of NGOs that are formally registered with the government and that are actively working in and around the capital, Khartoum. The leader of a prominent NGO whom Kadoda and Hale interviewed

> 13 FAO Country Profiles retrieved from database May 25, 2020.

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