Abiol Lual Deng | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 15, 1983 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Nationality | South Sudanese-American |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia (B.A.) Paris-Sorbonne University (MPhil) |
| Occupation | International relations expert |
Abiol Lual Deng (born 15 May 1983) is a South Sudanese-American political scientist and international relations expert.
Deng was born in Madison, Wisconsin on 15 May 1983 and is of South Sudanese heritage. [1] Her father is Lual A. Deng, an economist and advisor to the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement. [1] [2] She is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where she studied for a B.A. in French from 2002 to 2005. [3] [4] She studied at the University of Paris-Sorbonne for her MPhil, graduating in 2007. [3] [5]
Since graduation, she has worked across three continents in humanitarian assistance and conflict resolution. [6] Her work has often focussed on issues affecting people and countries in east and central Africa and she has worked in Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Sudan. [7]
She has worked in the private sector, as well as for state agencies and non-governmental organisations, such as Médecins Sans Frontières. [7] Deng has a particular interest in the use of social media in conflict situations, where state media may be biased. [8] As of 2021, Deng was working as a Global Mentor for the University of Virginia's new course on French for Global Development. [4]
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south, and the Red Sea to the east. It has a population of nearly 50 million people as of 2024 and occupies 1,886,068 square kilometres, making it Africa's third-largest country by area and the third-largest by area in the Arab League. It was the largest country by area in Africa and the Arab League until the secession of South Sudan in 2011; since then both titles have been held by Algeria. Its capital and most populous city is Khartoum.
The foreign relations of Sudan are generally in line with the Muslim Arab world, but are also based on Sudan's economic ties with the People's Republic of China and Russia.
The rich and varied music of Sudan has traditional, rural, northeastern African roots and also shows Arabic, Western or other African influences, especially on the popular urban music from the early 20th century onwards. Since the establishment of big cities like Khartoum as melting pots for people of diverse backgrounds, their cultural heritage and tastes have shaped numerous forms of modern popular music. In the globalized world of today, the creation and consumption of music through satellite TV or on the Internet is a driving force for cultural change in Sudan, popular with local audiences as well as with Sudanese living abroad.
Manute Bol was a Sudanese-American professional basketball player and political activist. Listed at 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) or 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) tall, Bol was one of the tallest players in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Alek Wek is a South Sudanese-British model and designer who began her fashion career at the age of 18 in 1995. She has been hailed for her influence on the perception of beauty in the fashion industry. She is from the Dinka ethnic group in South Sudan, but fled to Britain in 1991 to escape the civil war in Sudan. In 2015, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.
The University of Khartoum is a public university located in Khartoum, Sudan. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 1956 when Sudan gained independence. Since that date, the University of Khartoum has been recognized as a top university and a high-ranked academic institution in Sudan and Africa.
The Government of Sudan is the federal provisional government created by the Constitution of Sudan having executive, parliamentary, and the judicial branches. Previously, a president was head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces in a de jure multi-party system. Legislative power was officially vested in both the government and in the two houses – the National Assembly (lower) and the Council of States (upper) – of the bicameral National Legislature. The judiciary is independent and obtained by the Constitutional Court. However, following the Second Sudanese Civil War and the still ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan was widely recognized as a totalitarian state where all effective political power was held by President Omar al-Bashir and his National Congress Party (NCP). However, al-Bashir and the NCP were ousted in a military coup on April 11, 2019. The government of Sudan was then led by the Transitional Military Council (TMC). On 20 August 2019, the TMC dissolved giving its authority over to the Transitional Sovereignty Council, who were planned to govern for 39 months until 2022, in the process of transitioning to democracy. However, the Sovereignty Council and the Sudanese government were dissolved in October 2021.
Sudan–United States relations are the bilateral relations between Sudan and the United States. The United States government has been critical of Sudan's human rights record and has dispatched a strong UN Peacekeeping force to Darfur. Relations between both countries in recent years have greatly improved, with Sudan's post-revolutionary government compensating American victims of al-Qaeda terror attacks, the removal of Sudan from the State Department's blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism and the United States Congress having reinstated Sudan's sovereign immunity in December 2020.
The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the army of the Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key participant of the Second Sudanese Civil War, led by John Garang. After Garang's death in 2005, Salva Kiir was named the SPLA's new Commander-in-Chief. As of 2010, the SPLA was divided into divisions of 10,000–14,000 soldiers.
South Sudan, officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a country in East Africa which is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya including the vast swamp region of the Sudd, formed by the White Nile and known locally as the Bahr al Jabal, meaning "Mountain Sea". It is a landlocked country. The population is nearly 12.7 million people in 2024, and Juba is the capital and largest city. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011, making it the most recent sovereign state with widespread recognition as of 2024.
South Sudan is a multilingual country, with over 60 indigenous languages spoken. The official language of the country is English which was introduced in the region during the colonial era.
Dalia Haj-Omar is a Sudanese human rights activist and conflict management expert who has worked extensively in the Middle East and Africa. She has managed, designed, monitored, and evaluated United States Agency for International Development/Office of Transition Initiatives-funded projects in Sudan, and has been officially identified as a Senior Development Officer at Development Alternatives, Inc., and as being associated with GIRIFNA, the Sudanese Non-Violent Resistance Movement. She has also worked with Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, The World Bank, and Chemonics. Her reportage and opinion pieces have appeared in such publications as The New York Times and Foreign Affairs.
Miss Earth South Sudan is a title given to a South Sudanese who represents South Sudan at Miss Earth, which is an annual international beauty pageant promoting environmental awareness. The national pageant of Miss Earth for South Sudan is conducted by Miss South Sudan Foundation to which Carousel Productions, the owner of Miss Earth, awarded the franchise in 2015.
Hania Morsi Fadl is a Sudanese-British radiologist and the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Khartoum Breast Cancer Centre.
Photography in Sudan refers to both historical as well as to contemporary photographs taken in the cultural history of today's Republic of the Sudan. This includes the former territory of present-day South Sudan, as well as what was once Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and some of the oldest photographs from the 1860s, taken during the Turkish-Egyptian rule (Turkiyya). As in other countries, the growing importance of photography for mass media like newspapers, as well as for amateur photographers has led to a wider photographic documentation and use of photographs in Sudan during the 20th century and beyond. In the 21st century, photography in Sudan has undergone important changes, mainly due to digital photography and distribution through social media and the Internet.
Cinema of Sudan refers to both the history and present of the making or screening of films in cinemas or film festivals, as well as to the persons involved in this form of audiovisual culture of the Sudan and its history from the late nineteenth century onwards. It began with cinematography during the British colonial presence in 1897 and developed along with advances in film technology during the twentieth century.
Assil Diab is a Sudanese visual artist, graphic designer and graffiti artist, based in United States.
Omnia Shawkat is a Sudanese journalist, digital stories and cross-cultural curator. She is co-founder and manager of the cultural online platform Andariya, based in Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda, covering other countries in East Africa and the Horn of Africa as well.
Veronica Lucy Gordon is a South Sudanese journalist, radio broadcaster and rights activist who is the co-founder of the Association of Media Women in South Sudan (AMWISS). In 2014, she became the first female executive board member of the Association for Media Development of South Sudan (AMDISS).
Hilu Beatrice Cosmas was a South Sudanese female artist and activist who was advocating for girls' education in South Sudan and member of Anataban Campaign. She died in 2021 after a vehicle collision in Juba.