[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o6Rxc_JZKg&w=480&h=295]

Sudanese went to the polls yesterday and will do so again today in two days of voting for a new president or in the case of a depressing scenario that the controversial incumbent, Omar Al-Bashir, gets another term. The latter scenario is more likely. However, one outstanding feature in this depressive scenario has been the Girifna Movement, a social movement, that encourages people to vote and works for peaceful change in Sudan. This is an ad they’ve created for the election and their use of media.

In the ad above, a man washes a dirty t-shirt with the image of Al-Bashir on it.

The ad says something like this:

If you are disgusted don’t worry there is Girifna soap bar!
It would not be easy after 20 years with out change
You will have to scrub, scrub and scrub then squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze and squeeze,
But you will like the result
girifna soap bar for the future of Sudan!
I bet Nicholas Kristof won’t report this because it does not fit his picture of Sudan.

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Fragile state

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Coming home

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Imaginary homelands

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Business as usual?

This month, Algeria quietly held its second election since Abdelaziz Bouteflika was ousted in 2019. On the podcast, we ask what Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s second term means for the country.

The complexities of solidarity

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