2025

Symposium and Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Saturday, 20 September 2025
in association with the 
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Venue: Brunei Lecture Theatre, SOAS
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG 

Welcome from SSSUK former Chairperson, Gill Lusk

Watch your step, Khawaja! A Tribute to Peter Everington, by Barry Elbashir.

Nada Ali, On Being Sudanese: the weaponization of identity and belonging in the service of violent politics in Sudan.
Chaired by Mawan Muortat.

Peace
Rosalind Marsden, Learning from past Peace Agreements.
Nicki Kindersley, The Politics of Transition in South Sudan.
Lutz Oette, Transitional Justice in Sudan's Peace Agreements.
Chaired by Mauro Tadiwe.

Interventions and Responses
Justin Gordon-Muortat, South Sudan's People’s Charter.
Hisae Kato, Rural Labour Regimes and Peacebuilding in North Kordofan.
Suad Musa, Community Resilience in Darfur.
Chaired by Abdel Azim el Hassan.

Zaki El-Salahi, Ms Azza Dafaalla, and Mr Yousif Gibril (community researchers), Rahat Albal: Sudanese community research for reparation and self-repair.

Musical performance
Yassir Abdelrahim (Guitar); Ammar Elwasila (Organ); Anwar (Singer)

Closing remarks were made by Azizi Magid, SSSUK Chairperson elect.

Speakers and Contributors

Barry Elbashir is Partner at a City of London consulting firm. From Omdurman, he studied engineering at Khartoum University. His upbringing among key post-Independence figures sparked a lasting interest in that transformative period.

Dr. Nada Ali lectures at SOAS College of Law. Her research focuses on the impact of international law on developing countries, especially in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Sudan is a particular focus. She is writing a book on Sudan’s December Revolution using feminist film theory.

Dame Rosalind Marsden, DPhil, is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House on Sudan and South Sudan. After serving as UK Ambassador to Afghanistan, then Sudan, and as Consul- General in Basra, she was EU Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan, and in 2021- 22, worked with the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan, supporting the democratic transition.

Dr. Lutz Oette is Professor of International Human Rights Law at SOAS and Co-Director, SOAS Centre for Human Rights Law. He has published widely on civil society organisations, human rights, law and justice in Sudan and is founding member of Humanitarian Action for Sudan.

Dr. Nicki Kindersley is Senior Lecturer in African History, Cardiff University, focussing on migration and work, especially in South Sudan and its borderlands. She is visiting lecturer at the University of Juba, South Sudan, and also Secretary, Cardiff University & College Union.

Justin Nyieer Gordon-Muortat is a consultant, social entrepreneur and ardent observer of politics and development in the two Sudans and Africa. He was a Sudan People’s Liberation Movement delegate to the post-CPA SPLM Convention, is a Director of the Friends of Ibba Girls’ School, Equatoria, and works for the think tank South Sudan People's Charter.

Dr. Hisae Kato is a Teaching Fellow in Development Studies, SOAS. Her research explores the political economy of development, violence and labour in Sudan, particularly Kordofan. She has been a diplomat and development practitioner in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and United States.

Dr. Suad Musa, from El Fasher, Darfur, is a feminist, and peace and gender researcher. Author of Hawks and Doves in Sudan's Armed Conflict: Al-Hakkamat Baggara Women of Darfur (2018), she founded the Gender Centre for Peacebuilding and Justice in El Fasher, which promotes the participation of young people in building peace, and a just and democratic Sudan.

Zaki El-Salahi, Azza Dafaalla and Yousif Gibril, Community Researchers, belong to an intergenerational group of 10 researchers from Sudanese communities in Edinburgh, Oxford, Cambridge & London. The group was formed in 2024 by Zaki El-Salahi to research the estate of pharmaceutical entrepreneur Henry Wellcome and its legacy for Sudanese people today.

Zaki El-Salahi is a British Sudanese youth worker and researcher. A member of the Sudanese Community in Edinburgh, he has led the Edinburgh Sudanese Community Partnership at Edinburgh University since 2018.

Yassir Abdelrahim, Ammar Elwasila and Anwar are musicians playing sounds of Sudan and South Sudan.