The Envoy Shorts: Roundup of 2017

Focus Area – Africa; Focus Country – South Sudan

A writer with Sudanese roots, Bushra al-Fadil, has been conferred with the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing. The 65 year-old won this prestigious award for his short story titled, ‘The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away’. His work has been translated by Max Shmookler, with support from Najlaa Osman Eltom, and has been published in The Book of Khartoum – A City in Short Fiction. He currently resides in Saudi Arabia and his most recent collection, Above a City’s Sky, was published in 2012.

In this short story, al-Fadil explores how a young Sudanese girl and her sister fall prey to harassment while travelling in a bus. The writer conveys the problems facing Sudanese women through lines such as this: “I got on board the bus with them again. The passengers’ eyes, like glass saws, flew over the thighs and eyes and faces of the young girls. I turned.” While the story ends in a tragedy, the image of the two beautiful young girls conjured by the writer remains, like a haunting reminder of the reality in countries torn by civil conflicts. Bushra al-Fadil’s short story is a very powerful one which will compel the readers to imagine the plight of women in some of the most vulnerable countries in the world.

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The Envoy Shorts: Roundup of 2017

Focus Area – Africa; Focus Country – South Sudan

South Sudan became a new nation in 2011 following a peaceful secession from Sudan through a referendum. While South Sudan has vast reserves of natural resources, most of it is untapped. It is one of the most oil-dependent economies in the world with oil accounting for the bulk of its exports and 60 percent of its GDP. Economic growth has been challenged by the sharp drop in oil prices and the volatile political climate in the country. The civil conflict has taken a massive toll on the economic prospects of South Sudan, with about 2 million people internally displaced, more than 1.8 million people fleeing to neighbourhood countries, and about 213,000 seeking shelter from the United Nations (UN).

The long civil war has left the country will extremely underdeveloped infrastructure and inadequate human capital. Development had been side-lined due to the ongoing humanitarian and social crises. The government capacity to formulate and implement effective policies has been limited, but there is hope that it will change soon. Even though the country has a strong young population, there is huge gender disparity in terms of education and literacy. South Sudan is one country where human development is at its worst in the world. This situation needs to improve soon.

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