Handicrafts Bring Back the 'Made in Sudan' Initiative

Handicrafts Bring Back the 'Made in Sudan' Initiative
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Handicrafts Bring Back the 'Made in Sudan' Initiative

Handicrafts Bring Back the 'Made in Sudan' Initiative

Several craftsmen in Sudan launched a project to produce 1,000 Sudanese products to be marketed to the world by the end of 2020. Making use of an initiative entitled, "Everything But Arms" by the European Union that supports production in developing countries.

Muhaira al-Tayib, a handicraft designer, says that the project aims to introduce the world to Sudanese handicrafts and traditional products and marketing them under the trademark, "Made in Sudan", where producers abide by high-quality production using local raw materials of high quality.

According to Tayib, the project works on improving the production of accessories, furniture, leather products, textiles, and decorations.

The project's publicist, Hadi al-Rashid, clarified that the designers and craftsmen taking part have undergone extensive training to produce commodities at international standards.

"The project brings back some crafts that have been dissipated to life, such as pottery and porcelain, and presents them to the world with a Sudanese taste and design," she said.

According to Rashid, the project is an initiative by the youth who work in handicrafts and traditional crafts to develop them into an international trademark under the name "Made in Sudan".

The Director of the Department of Models at the Sudanese Ministry of Finance, Wael Fahmi Badwi, said that small traditional crafts produce job opportunities for families and societies and combat poverty. They play an important role in increasing national income, he said, adding that "It is good for some young Sudanese who have talents and expertise in handicrafts to work in productive projects that provide the state with foreign currency".

Member of the Economic Committee of the Forces of Freedom and Change Sadiq Qablo told Asharq Al-Awsat that the project increases private income for families and helps improve the national economy. Qablo recommended that the state adopt such projects that contribute to opening new markets.

Economic expert Fateh Othman sees that the initiative will remain limited if the government did not adopt it and coordinate with the European Union, the Arab Gulf, and the United States to open their markets for such products. Othman asked that funding be secured for those taking part in the initiative, pointing out that the initiative will achieve real success if government policies are put in place to encourage production and exportation and plans are set for teaching crafts and vocational training.

He clarified that the contribution of small crafts to national income does not exceed 3%, a small percentage due to the lack of economic policies.



Gazans’ Daily Struggle for Water After Deadly Israeli Strike

 Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
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Gazans’ Daily Struggle for Water After Deadly Israeli Strike

 Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)

The al-Manasra family rarely get enough water for both drinking and washing after their daily trudge to a Gaza distribution point like the one where eight people were killed on Sunday in a strike that Israel's military said had missed its target.

Living in a tent camp by the ruins of a smashed concrete building in Gaza City, the family say their children are already suffering from diarrhea and skin maladies and from the lack of clean water, and they fear worse to come.

"There's no water, our children have been infected with scabies, there are no hospitals to go to and no medications," said Akram Manasra, 51.

He had set off on Monday for a local water tap with three of his daughters, each of them carrying two heavy plastic containers in Gaza's blazing summer heat, but they only managed to fill two - barely enough for the family of 10.

Gaza's lack of clean water after 21 months of war and four months of Israeli blockade is already having "devastating impacts on public health" the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said in a report this month.

For people queuing at a water distribution point on Sunday it was fatal. A missile that Israel said had targeted fighters but malfunctioned hit a queue of people waiting to collect water at the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel's blockade of fuel along with the difficulty in accessing wells and desalination plants in zones controlled by the Israeli military is severely constraining water, sanitation and hygiene services according to OCHA.

Fuel shortages have also hit waste and sewage services, risking more contamination of the tiny, crowded territory's dwindling water supply, and diseases causing diarrhea and jaundice are spreading among people crammed into shelters and weakened by hunger.

"If electricity was allowed to desalination plants the problem of a lethal lack of water, which is what's becoming the situation now in Gaza, would be changed within 24 hours," said James Elder, the spokesperson for the UN's children's agency UNICEF.

"What possible reason can there be for denying of a legitimate amount of water that a family needs?" he added.

COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, an Israeli military official said that Israel was allowing sufficient fuel into Gaza but that its distribution around the enclave was not under Israel's purview.

THIRSTY AND DIRTY

For the Manasra family, like others in Gaza, the daily toil of finding water is exhausting and often fruitless.

Inside their tent the family tries to maintain hygiene by sweeping. But there is no water for proper cleaning and sometimes they are unable to wash dishes from their meager meals for several days at a time.

Manasra sat in the tent and showed how one of his young daughters had angry red marks across her back from what he said a doctor had told them was a skin infection caused by the lack of clean water.

They maintain a strict regimen of water use by priority.

After pouring their two containers of water from the distribution point into a broken plastic water butt by their tent, they use it to clean themselves from the tap, using their hands to spoon it over their heads and bodies.

Water that runs off into the basin underneath is then used for dishes and after that - now grey and dirty - for clothes.

"How is this going to be enough for 10 people? For the showering, washing, dish washing, and the washing of the covers. It's been three months; we haven't washed the covers, and the weather is hot," Manasra said.

His wife, Umm Khaled, sat washing clothes in a tiny puddle of water at the bottom of a bucket - all that was left after the more urgent requirements of drinking and cooking.

"My daughter was very sick from the heat rash and the scabies. I went to several doctors for her and they prescribed many medications. Two of my children yesterday, one had diarrhea and vomiting and the other had fever and infections from the dirty water," she said.