A strengthened and vibrant civil society must rely on the knowledge, skills, and virtue of its citizens and those they elect to public offices

Civic education is an important means for capacity development on the societal level by empowering people for effective civic engagement. It is an essential dimension in strengthening a society’s ability to make decisions and to manage its own affairs, and is complementary to capacity development on the individual and institutional levels. At the core of Civic Education are the values and principles of transparency, participation, responsiveness, accountability, empowerment and equity. Civic Education is essential for sustained poverty reduction and can make a substantial contribution towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

In regard to the coming presidential, gubernatorial and legislative election in Sudan, there is more need for the civil society to be alert and aware to achieve active engagement in this important step in Sudan history. Lack of access to quality information can be attributed to many geographical, economical and environmental constraints in many areas of the state, there for, the civil society organizations are perceived as perfect entry to raise civil awareness and to promote the culture of civic education amongst the Sudanese community

In keeping with its mission of promoting an enlightened, competent and responsible civil society and in turn citizenry in Sudan, SUDIA implemented a workshop on civic education for the partners of its CSOs advsiory programme in Khartoum. The activity which was supported by the German Development Service (DED) was implemented in April 2009. Topics of the workshop were constructed around the themes of human rights and democracy with special focus on acquiring basic skills to develop tools for civic education and building endogenous leadership for positive future change. The sessions reviewed and discussed national and international experiences on civic education and democratization

Stronger networking amongst the 10 participants’ organizations who attended the workshop was agreed upon. The participants developed work plans to conducted activities with their target group. To make themselves familiar with the activities of each others, the participants planned meetings for the group where they exchange experiences and lessons learned

Activity from the same type will be replicated with partners of SUDIA CSOs advsiory program in North Kordufan state. Plans for effective partnerships and cooperation with national and international actors to extend the interventions on civic education are considered for future, with potential focus on topics like voters’ education, human rights and citizenship

The Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Advisory Program is being implemented through a partnership between the Sudanese Development Initiative (SUDIA) and the German Development Services (DED) and aims to support and reinforce capacity of civil society organizations in contributing to sustainable local development in Sudan.  The program emerged in response to a need for greater effectiveness and participation on the part of civil society in addressing the development challenges facing the country