Rights groups protest ban on working women

Karin Sham Poo, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, told IRIN on Wednesday it was “extremely unfortunate” that governor of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, had issued a decree this week barring women from doing any jobs in the city where they came into contact with men.

She said the ban, which would exclude women from working in hotels, fuel stations, restaurants and other public places came just days after she had visited Sudan to urge the government to ratify the UN-sponsored Convention of Eradication of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Speaking in a telephone interview from the UN Millennium Summit in New York, she told IRIN: “I learned about this decree just yesterday (Tuesday) and I have contacted our office in Khartoum to get further information.”
Governor Majzoub Khalifa of Khartoum issued the decree on Sunday, saying it was in line with Islamic Sharia law and aimed to honour women. The governor said women should not be employed in the public service sectors, such as fuel stations, hotels and restaurants, where they would have direct contact with men.

Sham Poo added: “I feel it is of course extremely unfortunate that the governor of Khartoum has issued this decree. Many of these working women simply have no other options. It is very unfortunate too, especially because it comes at a time I have opened a very good dialogue with the government of Sudan on the rights of women and asked them to sign the CEDAW convention. UNICEF is taking measures to raise this ban at the highest level and to seek its immediate cancellation.”

News reports said most public places in Khartoum had adhered to the decree and told women in public places to quit their jobs. Human rights and women’s groups in Sudan, including the pro-government General Women’s Association (GWA), also condemned the decree. “This is a violation to the constitution and the human rights of women,” said a statement by the Sudanese Human Rights Groups, lead by opposition lawyer Ghazi Suleiman. The statement carried by news agencies added: “We appeal to all organisations in and outside Sudan to stand in the face of this faulty decision and to act for its abrogation.”

The GWA also expressed its “total” rejection of the banning order as “a violation” of the constitution. It said that at an emergency meeting held on Tuesday night the association decided to send the governor a memorandum, demanding that the order be rescinded.