Non Governmental Organizations in Darfur

The Concept of Voluntary Work and History of Voluntary Organizations in Sudan

The concept of voluntary work and organizations until mid 1980s in the Arab and other parts of the World was restricted to unplanned individual and collective work in cases of disasters and catastrophes till mid 1980s when it developed to indicate to organizations which offer social services to what are called the special groups such fatherless children, and handicapped, blind and deaf people.
The western countries began employing voluntary organizations in implementation of development projects in developing countries, but in 1990s the concept of voluntary work was expanded to have political concept and dimensions such as political participation and good governance.
It is importance to refer emergence of new theories in state-society relationship focusing on what are called the network society or the center less society or the poly center society.
With the definition previously mentioned above , the voluntary work goes beyond charity and assisting the vulnerable groups.

Voluntary Organizations and the civil society
The civil society is defined as set of social institutions relatively independent from the state and work to achieve political , economic and social objectives.
The differences between the native organizations and the civil society organizations are represented in the following five features:-
1- Voluntary
2- Independent, particularly from the state
3- non profit
4- Not serving interests of the organization members
5- Participant in public affair.

So, these organizations were found to serve common interests or to work in specific area or to achieve collective benefits ext.
Concept of Voluntary Work

Definition of Volunteering

Volunteering means efforts based on certain skill or experience being deliberately exerted to meet a social obligation without expecting any financial reward.

Voluntary work

There are two approaches in definition of voluntary work, one based on nature of the voluntary work and its objectives, and the other on concept of voluntary organizations and their relations with the different sectors of the communities. And this comprehensive definition used for definingcivil society organizations which based on four pillars.
1 volunteering and freedom of joining these organizations.
2 Cooperation with the state and the family to fill the gap irrespective of differences
3 inherited.
4 Sound and democratic administration of diversities and differences.

The concept of NGOs used to means social initiatives made for carrying out activities in the fields of social services, charitable assistance, education, health , culture, concern environment, development, vocational training and child and human rights advocacy.

Definition of voluntary work in Sudanese Laws.

The Organization of Humanitarian and Voluntary Work Act , 2006 defines the voluntary work as any voluntary humanitarian non-profit activity carried out by national or foreign voluntary or charity organizations registered in Sudan to provide humanitarian aid or relief or to improve the economic and social standards of living for the beneficiaries.

Civil society organizations

Civil society organizations means organizations which carry out voluntary and humanitarian work for non-profitable purposes and registered in accordance with the provision of this Act.


Charitable organizations
Means organizations which formed by Sudanese citizens, groups or individuals who have financial abilities for continuation of the charitable activities.

National voluntary organizations
The 2006 Act defined the national voluntary organizations, the Sudanese non-governmental organization registered in accordance to the provision of 2006 Act .
Foreign voluntary organization
Means regional and international non-governmental and semi-governmental organizations registered in accordance to provision of 2006 Act or authorized to work in Sudan.

Voluntary work in Islamic Heritage
The religious and social values are deepening the spirit of voluntary work. Islam urges voluntary work in many verses of the Holly Quran and Hadith "speeches of prophet Mohammed (PUH).

The charity in Islam and Islamic state has institutional image in the form of endowments as, the mosques and Khalawis to support mosques and schools
Folklore:
The folklore represents the cultural heritage which consists of high social values for the voluntary work as in the traditional societies.

History of Voluntary Organizations in Sudan

As known, the voluntary organizations started in western countries in the early 1980s to utilize the private voluntary organizations in the developing countries for implementation of development projects. In the mid of the eighties Sahal region witnessed drought and famine that struck the Sahal area, including Sudan.
So, a number of foreign organizations entered the country to carry out relief work which changed later on into various projects in the health, water supply and income-generating fields, besides reconstruction of the environment.
The concept of the voluntary action and voluntary organizations in Sudan had confined at that time for providing social services to the vulnerable groups, which called in the social work (the special group) as illegal children or delinquents, disabled people besides blinds, deaf and dumps.
The responsibility of registration of such association is carried out by the Ministry of Social Welfare which becomes as ministry in May Revolution's era
There are other voluntary organizations besides the charity associations, as well as the cooperative societies, and the trade union, which were registered in the Ministry of Labour, then its registration transferred during the Salvation Revolution to the General Attorney and their activities changed into modern and organizational forms, such as the cultural and sports clubs and charity associations in the 1930s and 1940s for carrying out education by the members of the Graduates' Congress and the natives administration.


The development of voluntary work in Sudan.

1- Education in Sudan:
It started as in the rest of the Islamic world through the religious education which was carried out by voluntary teachers in mosques and Khalwas. In fact there were no fees paid for the teachers, but they depended on the gifts and donations which effort by the parents of the students.
The formal education during the British colonization began by establishment of a number of schools to serve their interests, to qualifying staff and workers for carrying out government tasks, thus, increasing the number of clerks, technicians, officers and administrators who were working in institutions, as well as Sudan Railways , and then became the backbone of the voluntary work and civil society organizations which stood against the economic interest of the colonial state, the movements were organized by those staff through the literary associations which established in Omdurman, Madeni and Port Sudan.
The traditional societies concerned with the voluntary work through some political organizations, and it became clear that during May Revolution's era, by establishment schools and health centers.
2-The Trade Union Organizations
The workers first commenced their activities through clubs, and then they allowed establishing their own clubs in Khartoum and Omdurman. ( Lobour Club)
The trade union played big role with other organizations as the Congress of Graduates.
It is to be noted that the first workers' organization was the worker' affairs organ which was established in 1947, before the establishment of the Federation Trade Union in 1950.


3-The Political Parties:
It began by the members of the Graduates' Congress which included at that time 1180 members
4- Women's organizations:
It began by educated women who concerned with illiteracy and social welfare's issues in big cities as Madeni and Omdurman. Women also played important role through their participation in nurses and teachers' unions, besides sewing classes and private handcrafts classes.
1- Organizations and Voluntary Associations:
In the 1960s of the last century a number of voluntary organizations and organized voluntary work appeared in Sudan, before that some European missionaries carried out voluntary activities in southern Sudan in the twenties, but the national voluntary activity began by the establishment of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society.
The outbreak of the civil war, displacement the massive migration to the cities which resulted in the problem of shanty towns, homelessness and unemployment, besides environmental degradation, for these reasons some voluntary organizations were established to face the issues, through setting up charity, tribal, regional associations in the capital in the beginning of 1970s.
After signing of Addis Ababa peace agreement in 1972 foreign organizations carried out intensively their humanitarian and services works in south Sudan in the refugees and displaced persons' camps.
Nowadays in Darfur region the voluntary organizations are carrying out the same tasks after the war flared up in the region.
The number of foreign organizations in Darfur reached to 70 ones.
The registered associations in Khartoum state amounted to 121 ones in the year of 1997, 35 of them are for the Greater Kordofan state, 15 for the Red Sea, Kassala and Gedarif states, 23 for Nahr Neil and Northern states, 23 for Gezira, Sennar, the White Nile and the Blue Nile states and 11 for southern Sudan states, besides other 23 organizations.
It's to be noted that there are thousands of voluntary organizations as well as the schools' boards, committees of mosques, churches and social and sports clubs, besides housewives and productive families' associations.

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