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Only short before the dawn of independence in 1956 that the Sudanese women movement gradually started to gain momentum. This was, however previously closely linked with the escalating national movement against colonialism. However, most of women's achievements were realised during the interrupted periods of democracy after independence in 1956. Historically, the embryo of women's movement started to grow after the establishment of the political parties in 1948. The first organised women's movement started with the establishment of the Union of Sudanese Women Teachers in 1949. Emergence of the Union of Sudanese Women in 1952 was the turning point with the general objective of enhancing the status of Sudanese women.
It was during the short cycles of democracy since independence, that Sudanese women made great strides in realising great achievements connected with their social and economic rights. However, during the frequent cycles of military regimes since independence, women's rights have always been curbed. Nonetheless, since 1989 when the National Islamic Front (NIF) came to power through a military coup d'etat Sudanese women's rights, particularly their human rights have deteriorated to an extent that has not been witnessed throughout the history of Sudan.
The birth of World Women Movement was in the West during the French revolution of 1789. That was the first time for women to raise the slogans of liberty, fraternity, and social equality (1). In more recent history, the first women organization was established in the United States of America in 1948. The American women waded a pioneer struggle for the realization of their rights with regard to education, work, marriage and voting. Women organizations also flourished in Europe and made many achievements in connection with women's rights. Women organizations in East European Socialist Countries established WIDF(Women International Democratic Federation) in East Berlin. However, women organisations in the Third World were not subordinated to those organizations in the North (2). Nonetheless, the first women movement in Third World Countries started in China in the eighteenth century, then extended to reach India in the nineteenth Century (2). At present some of the most distinguished women organizations in the Third World are the General Union of Arab Women in Cairo and the General Congress of all African Women in Algiers. Those came into existence and flourished...