Abdel-Rahman Y. El-Mahdi, (President/Chairperson)

Educated in Khartoum and at the American University in Cairo, Abdel-Rahman earned his degree in Physics.

Following his return to Sudan, he managed his own private businesses in agriculture and the service sector.

Later he worked briefly with the Near East Foundation (NEF) in Khartoum, a US-based Foundation providing development services in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean region.

In 1995, Abdel-Rahman returned to Cairo where he was employed as Assistant to the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Director for the Near East Foundation. While with the EMR-Regional office, he took a special interest in Sudanese affairs and was active in work with Sudanese displaced to Egypt (estimated at the time at over 2,000,000).

His efforts with the Sudanese in the Diaspora led to the founding of the Sudanese Development Initiative Abroad, better known as SUDIA. The organization has since established itself in Sudan and transformed itself into a national Sudanese organization.

Abdel-Rahman brings with him over 12 years of experience working in grass-roots and international development. He has solid experience and expertise that covers Organizational Development, Project Management, Research, Financial and Human Resource management, and proven fundraising skills.

Since founding and establishing SUDIA in late 1995, he has been at the forefront of the development and growth of the organization.

Abdelatie A. Eid (Vice President)
Currently serving as Coordinator of the Sudan Campaign to Ban Landmines and as Chairperson of ROOTS, a Sudanese NGO specializing in rural development work in Abu Hamad Province, River Nile State of Northern Sudan.

Mr. Abdel Aati specializes in the academic and professional fields of agriculture, education, health and community development and has extensive experience in the development and management of local community organizations and associations.

Previously, he has served as Executive Director of the Sudan Council of Voluntary Associations (SCOVA). Mr. Eid holds a M.Sc. in Rural Development from Omdurman Islamic University.


Abdel-Hafeez Abbas (Secretary)
Graduating in 1989 from Zagazeeg University in Egypt, Abdel-Hafeez went on to obtain his Masters Degree in General Law from Khartoum University in 2006.

He then went on to play an active role in politics where he spent a great deal of time advocating for issues related to human rights, good governance and freedoms.

His background in law and his well grounded knowledge of the intra-political challenges facing the country place him as one of the core members of the Executive Office at SUDIA.

Since joining SUDIA, Abbas continues to help the organization understand and navigate the political and legal hurdles of running a NGO in Sudan. As Secretary to the Executive Office he takes on numerous duties which are detrimental to the continued success of SUDIA in the field.



Izzeldien Abdel Hamied (Director)
Izzeldian is a graduate of the University of Khartoum, Faculty of Economics and Social Studies, with a MSc in Development Planning; in addition to a PhD in Social Anthropology and Sociology, from the University of Khartoum.
 
In 1987, Dr. Izzeldin was employed by the Ministry of Local Government as an Administrative Officer in South Kordofan. After two years of taught field work in Kadugli District South Kordofan, he was sent by the Local Government (Ministry of Planning) to study for a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Studies at the University of Khartoum.

In 1995 Dr. Izzeldien joined the University of Khartoum academic staff, as registrar, where he also completed his MSc and obtained his PhD.

Dr. Hamied’s multidisciplinary education is combined with diverse experience in the fields of administration and management, teaching and short courses training, research and others consultations services.

Dr. Hamied is interested in Conflict Analysis and Socioeconomics, and Poverty Alleviation Studies; he worked as Socio economic Analyst and consultant for the public sector and national / international organizations including SUDIA.


Sadig Babo Nimir (Director)
Sadig was born in South Kordofan and raised by his father the famous ‘Nazir’ of the Messiriya Tribe in South Kordofan – Babo Nimir.

He was educated in the United Kingdom and is a Fellow of Queen Elizabeth House-Oxford University, Political Science, Economics, and Refugees Studies.

In 1986, he helped establish the first Relief and Rehabilitation Commission to counter the effects of the famine that struck Sudan as well as other countries in the Horn of Africa, and also served as its Executive Director.

Of particular significance was his role and contribution in setting up Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) which established safe corridors and enabled relief and humanitarian assistance to flow to war-affected communities during the civil conflict in Southern Sudan.

Mr. Babo brings with him a strong network of links and relations with the UN, NGO and Foreign Diplomats sector and his comprehensive knowledge of the socio-political climate in Sudan with particular strength in the region of the Dinka/Messirya tribes in Abyei will contribute to the organizations efforts of developing well-informed and effective interventions in that region of the country.

Hanan Ghazi Abdel-Rahman (Administrative Manager)

Hanan studied management at the School of Business Administration in Ahfad University, graduating in 2003. After which she took various English Language courses.

She proceeded to volunteer with small charity organisations around Khartoum before starting with SUDIA in 2005. She enjoys the role because with it comes opportunities for advancing skills, various trainings and chances to progress.

In her spare time she enjoys socialising with friends, and exploring the internet. She represents a focal point in the organization and her absence is quickly felt throughout our work days.

Hanan Abdulla Ali  (Treasurer/Financial Manager)

Hanan graduated in Accounting from the Faculty of Business Studies of Sudan University. After this she studied with the Sudan Certified Accountant Council to secure her Certified Accountant status.

She had worked for some time with the Tax Chamber in Khartoum joining SUDIA in 2007, where under her authority our financial procedures and controls are continuously being put to the test and accordingly revised and upgraded. 

Hanan enjoys working with SUDIA, as she is given the opportunity to acquire and constantly develop her knowledge. She hopes to see SUDIA become a leading example of a national NGO in Sudan.

 Reem El Douri (Projects Manager)

Reem chose to study forestry at Khartoum University because she loves nature and wanted to help preserving Sudan’s environmental potential. As she wished to dig deep into this different and necessary field, she moved onto Masters level in Tropical Forest Management at Dresden Technical University, Germany. Since then Reem has obtained a broad and varied area of expertise. Very keen on CBO establishment and developing grassroots initiatives she considers herself a development practitioner and a civil society activist. As such she prefers to work in organizations rather than academia, although she spent a year as a lecturer in Kordofan University. She also has experience working on state level developing Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in North Kordofan. From 2007 to 2011 she was the CSO advisor for DED (German Development Service) in El Obeid. However during this period she somehow additionally found the time to help setting up the SUDIA field office in El Obeid in 2010. In September 2011 she moved to Khartoum to join SUDIA full time and is currently busy managing all of SUDIA’s projects. She enjoys her work very much and hopes to see SUDIA become one of the largest and most influential NGOs in the country. Reem wishes to contribute to the improvement of SUDIA’s structures and overall capacity to deliver fruitful projects and services.  

Nuha Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed Zain (Operational Manager in SUDIA Microfinance Unit)

Nuha graduated in 2003 from Elneelain University Faculty of Law. She has twelve years of experience in social work, five of which in microfinance. She has worked with other local and international organizations, such as Entishar for the former and Tostan for the latter.

Her current role is monitoring SUDIA’s microfinance branches in Khartoum and North Kordofan states, writing proposals and providing periodical updates and reports.

In the future she hopes SUDIA will develop a larger more established Microfinance Institution (MFI), as Nuha hopes to help more clients through microfinance using her expertise in this particular field.

 

 

 

 Hussain Al Rahmma (Greater Darfur Business and Operational Manager)

Having graduated from the Islamic University of Omdurman, Faculty of Education, Department of English and Geography, Hussain went on to becoming a teacher. For 11 years he taught in basic and secondary, public and private schools plus an English Institute in South Darfur where he is from originally. Hussain always wanted to give something back to the community so it was natural for him to move on into the humanitarian field, more specifically the Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration Commission (DDRC) where he worked for 4 years. Here he served firstly as Reintegration Officer, then Admin Officer, and also Community security and Small Arms Control (CSAC) Officer. With all this in the bag Hussain had a lot of relevant experience when he joined SUDIA in September 2011. Based in SUDIA’s El Fashir office he is currently organizing the implementation of SUDIA’s projects in Greater Darfur as a way of contributing to social and economic development and establishing peace for all Sudanese.

In his free time Hussain does sports, watches football and reads a lot. He wishes that Sudan will one day win the Africa Cup of Nations.

 

 Elizabeth Drew, Head of Programmes - Peacebuilding

Elizabeth studied English Language and Literature at King’s College, London and worked in advertising briefly before pursuing her interest in politics, conflict and development by completing a master’s degree in International Relations at the University of Cambridge, UK.

She then moved to Mozambique, working with VETAID to build the institutional capacities of national partners supporting rural livelihoods before returning to London to join the UK Department for International Development (DFID). She started in DFID’s Climate Change team before moving to the Conflict Policy Team to oversee grants and advise on peacebuilding projects.

She then took up a research and policy post with international peacebuilding NGO Conciliation Resources (CR), editing publications on east and central Africa, among others. A strong desire to learn from and support locally-led peacebuilding work brought her to SUDIA in November 2011.

As Head of Programmes, Peacebuilding, Elizabeth oversees current projects and leads on designing new ones, as well as developing the overall programme strategy and building internal capacity. Elizabeth hopes to harness SUDIA’s experience to promote Sudanese peacebuilding capacity more widely. She also intends to learn Arabic and visit as much of Sudan as possible!

Sami Salah Mohammed (Media Monitoring Officer)

Sami graduated in Management Accountancy from Sudan University. He considers himself a human rights activist, with an emphasis on peace building and civic education especially amongst the youth. He wants to encourage the people of Sudan to make change.

 

His work aims to provide people with otherwise inaccessible information on media performance, and to give feedback to the media houses on their current work and publications.

 

Sami eventually wants to expand his education to post-graduate studies related to promoting democracy. With this knowledge he hopes he can make a difference in the lives of others.

Lykke Elisabeth Stavnes (Projects / Communications Support Officer)

Lykke studied Social Anthropology in India, Pondicherry and at the University of St. Andrews, followed by an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics; but she claims to be more of an anthropologist than a “developmentalist”.

She taught English in universities at Shendi and Kassala, and with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society in    Khartoum                            and Kassala before joining SUDIA. She'd previously volunteered with the Refugee Council in London, with Community Aid Network (CAN) in Romania and at the Colibri orphanage in Peru.

She wishes to stay in Sudan to improve her Arabic skills beyond “schwaya schwaya”, and looks forward to seeing SUDIA’s projects, particularly on peace-building, come into fruition in the months to come.

 

 

 

 Mohamed Zainelabdeen Nooreldaiem Elsamani  (Driver)

Mohamed is from Doaim City in While Nile State. He joined SUDIA in 2009 as the office driver. He is tasked with taking care of most of the office's transportation needs - when travelling locally or nationally for projects - and the travel requirements of guests.

 

Mohamed also helps in guarding the premises after working hours and providing support to employees working late in the office.

 

In his spare time he enjoys listening to music and following current affairs. In the future Mohamed would like to establish a happy family life with healthy kids.

Sara Mohammed Esam (Executive office assistant)

Sara graduated from the School of Rural Extension, Education & Development in Ahfad University in 2009 .

In May 2010 she came on board SUDIA to build her experience in the non-profit sector and provide support and assistance to the Executive office. She also provides support to program and administrative staff.

She would like to carry out further study in sustainable development; and in her spare time likes to watch the National Geographic Channel, along side reading and of course, sleeping.

Heba Hassan Bashier (Loan Officer)

Heba studied economics for her bachelor at Al Ribat University and then moved on to master level in Micro Finance and Development at Afhad. She recently joined SUDIA’s Microfinance Unit after a year working at the Taxation Chamber. As a loan officer Heba helps out keeping record of clients and very much enjoys going to the field. She hopes to get into more practical work as her experience increases. Her aim in life is to help the poor people of Sudan in a scientific way and to practice what she learned during her Master-studies.

Zeinab Awadallah Mustafa (Financial Office Assistant)

Zeinab studied accounting at Sudan University from which she graduated in 2006. She then moved on to studying English at a language college and worked with the SUDIA partner Entishar, also in accounting.

Her vision for the future is to move up in the system still working in finance at SUDIA. She enjoyed her job very much, as the staff are dedicated and she admires the organisation for carrying out activities that empower and improve the quality of life for people across Sudan.

She loves gathering general knowledge, both about Sudan and the wider world.  

Omer Naeim (Portfolio Manager in SUDIA Microfinance Unit)          

Omer graduated from Omdurman Ahlia University with a BA in English Language and Literature, and holds a Diploma and Master degree in Social Work from Khartoum University.

He is passionate about the relationship between economic development and social work. Omer’s interest in microfinance comes from its ability to help people improve their own lives, thus in his opinion microfinance actually is social work.

He is a member in the Sudanese Environment Conservation Society, and his vision for the future is to promote social change and problem solving in the communities where SUDIA is present. His favorite sport is tennis.  

Maysoon Ahmed Hamza  (Loans Officer in SUDIA Microfinance Unit)

Maysoon graduated from the International University of Africa in Computer Science in 2008. After this, she completed her National Service at Sudan University, spending three months working in Human Resources, followed by eight months in Accounting.

Finding interest in the finance world, she spent two months training with the Farmers Commercial Bank in both Customer Service and IT. In November 2010, she joined SUDIA in the Microfinance Unit as Loans Officer.

She found the work appealing as there is a clear demand for microfinance initiatives in Sudan, and  she would like to continue working in this field.

In her spare time she enjoys reading and socialising.

Mubarak Osman Bahkeet  (Custodian)

Mubarak was born in Nyala. He joined SUDIA as the Custodian two years ago and has had a busy time since. He used to support the Administrative Manager and staff by taking care of the offices and kitchen duties amongst others to help create a comfortable atmosphere.

He was also on hand for all work related activities outside of the building such as staff dinners, and helping the needs of guests. His kind nature makes his absence very noticeable.

Mubarak enjoyed working at SUDIA and in his spare time he enjoys watching soccer games and listening to music. In the future he'd like to see his younger siblings well educated and his Dad in a better health.