Rift Valley Institute organizes Sudan course in Rumbek
By Manyang Mayom
May 13, 2006 (RUMBEK) — The London based non-profit research and training organization, the Rift Vally Institute organized its third Sudan course here from 7 to 12 May.
The course is designed for aid workers (expatriate and Sudanese), diplomats, journalists and researchers. It is an intensive introduction to Sudan covering modern history, politics, ethnography, civil war, human rights, economics and natural resources, with an emphasis on the practical application of academic knowledge to aid and development.
The closing day of Rift Valley Course 2006 was been attended by the Lakes State ministers and Deputy Governor and minister of Education David Nok Marial accompanied by the Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sport. Ms. Adak Costa Mapuor. The participants held a great party with dancing in different traditional dances, from Darfur, Nuba Mountains, and Southern Sudan.
In a statement to Sudan Tribune correspondent in Rumbek, the chairperson of the Rift Vally John Ryle said that the second Rift Valley Institute Sudan Course took place in July last year 2005 in Rumbek, then the interim administrative centre of the Government of South Sudan.
2006 course was held in Rumbek senior secondary school, the first international event to take place there. Teaching staff included scholars from North and South Sudan.
He said the third Rift Valley Institute Sudan course was very successful, people from many organization attended the event.
The fellows of the Institute are recognized specialists from Africa, Europe and the Americas, distinguished in a range of scholarly and practical disciplines. The Aim of the Institute is to connect local knowledge to global information systems, in the spirit of the UN Declaration of the Rights of minorities and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Action-oriented social research is the Institute’s core activity – in the Fields of history and culture, human rights, political economy and environmental conservation. The Institute organizes in-country training courses for local and expatriate aid workers, diplomats, peace-keepers, academic researchers and others.
John Ryle indicated that Rift Valley Institute is supported by the Sigrid Rausing Trust, with project funding from the Open Society, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, and the UK Government Department for International Development (DFID) and UNICEF.
The teaching staff of this year included: Dr Douglas Johnson, Dr Paul Wani Gore, of Khartoum University, Jemera Rone, Sudan researcher, Human Rights Watch, Dr Rogaia Abusharaf, author of “Wanderings: Sudanese Migrants and Exiles in North America”, Dr Gerard Prunier, author of “Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide”, Philip Winter, Director of the Mpala Conservancy; former South Sudan Field Director of Save the Children Fund (UK) andJohn Ryle, Visiting Professor of Anthropology and Human Rights, Bard College, New York; Chair of the Rift Valley Institute.
(ST)