CNN Names Women’s Rights Activist Hala Al Karib Among World’s 30 Gender Equality Defenders

Hala Al Karib, a Sudanese women’s rights activist and Regional Director of Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network, has been named among the world’s 30 gender equality defenders by multinational news channel CNN, as part of their International Women Day 2024 As Equals story.

Al Karib’s work focuses on women and girls in conflict and post-conflict regions, minorities, refugees, and displaced persons. She worked in Sudan, South Sudan, Eastern, and Horn of Africa for over 20 years for various international and regional development and humanitarian institutions.

She is also the editorial head of the SIHA annual journal ‘Women in Islam’, an annual journal published by SIHA that focuses on gender relations and women’s rights within Muslim communities in the Horn of Africa. She often writes on women’s rights and social justice issues and the politics of the region for media outlets such as OpenDemocracy, Al Jazeera and The New Humanitarian Pambazuka and The East African. 

According to CNN, ‘Hala Al Karib, is an activist and researcher who is at the forefront of advocating for the rights of women in Sudan and the Greater Horn of Africa region. Sudanese women played a key role in the revolution that led to the overthrow of the government of Omar Al Bashir. But as the East African nation has descended into civil war, women have been especially vulnerable to gender-based violence, including sexual violence that’s used as a weapon of war, according to the UN. It is in this context that Al Karib, who works between Uganda and Sudan, continues to advocate for the inclusion of women in peace and security processes all over Africa, warning that failure to do so only “prolongs violence”.’

CNN As Equals has identified and profiled 30 people whose lives and work respond to the challenges posed by anti-gender movements from Afghanistan to the United States. Their courage and commitment, often in the face of personal danger, is inspiring and necessary. 

As Equals also profiled women from Afghanistan, Egypt, Ireland, Iran Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, USA, and more.

For more information or to see CNN’s As Equals story, visit https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/asequals/gender-equality-defenders-international-womens-day-as-equals-intl-cmd/

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