Forum for Sustainable Enterprise Development in Sudan: New Approaches for Local Reconstruction

On April 1-3, 2007, a forum was held at Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman (just outside Khartoum) to promote sustainable enterprise development in Sudan. The forum was a collaborative project of Ahfad University, Canada’s York and Dalhousie Universities and the World Bank.
The strategic aims of the Forum were: to change existing notions of development and reconstruction in Sudan; link macro-economic improvements to a model of local development; provide examples of sustainable enterprise development which benefit IDPs, ex-combatants and other communities; and facilitate relationships for the incubation of such approaches. Target audiences include: Government officials (GoS, GoSS, Darfur); Sudanese and international development agencies; business leaders; academics; and community leaders from Sudan, including Southern Sudan and Darfur.
The forum is the final phase of a collaborative project of York, Dalhousie and Ahfad Universities on Sustainable Livelihoods and Grassroots Enterprise Development in Darfur and South Sudan, and was funded by Foreign Affairs Canada and the International Development Research Council of Canada. The project builds on an applied model of business development that equates the significant and systemic changes in enterprise networks with the critical growth and sustainability of local enterprises. Sustainable enterprises or Sustainable Local Enterprise Networks (SLENs) are those that have simultaneous economic, social and ecological benefits, as well as resilience and the ability to create multi-beneficial outcomes such as self-reliance and livelihoods for the poor. The model was developed by Dr. David Wheeler and colleagues at York University.

(Source: http://www.fsed.ca/fsed.php?page=forum)