She had graduated with a degree in medical laboratory sciences from Nahda College in 2022, and then began developing a women’s empowerment initiative – Golden Women – in the western Sudanese city of Nyala, in the same year.
asserted
She → graduate → year
The initiative organised psychosocial support sessions and training workshops in marketing and entrepreneurship that helped more than 70 women.
asserted
that → organise → women
Yousra wanted to help young women like her seeking work, but often lacking the experience and practical skills needed to pursue available opportunities.
asserted
women → want → opportunities
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asserted
Trump → suffer → deportations
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Things were going well until Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023, upending her life.
asserted
war → blame → life
By June, Yousra and her family fled Nyala to Sennar, a city in central Sudan that she had never visited.
asserted
she → flee → that
“Before the war, I was ambitious and had many dreams,” Yousra told Al Jazeera.
asserted
Yousra → have → Jazeera
“I started from zero in Sennar, without work experience or connections.”
asserted
I → start → experience
Unable to find work in a city that she was unfamiliar with, she began offering nail services from home, charging the equivalent of about $10 to $15, and saving what she could to help her family.
uncertain
she → find → family
Then, fighting between the two belligerents in Sudan’s war – the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces – spread to Sennar in mid-2024, forcing Yousra and her family to flee once again, this time to Kassala in eastern Sudan.
asserted
fighting → spread → Sudan
Once again, Yousra was starting from scratch, and Sudan’s economy was collapsing as a result of the war.
asserted
economy → start → war
With few jobs available, and the growing need Yousra saw for women to earn money to support their families, she has resurrected her Golden Women initiative.
asserted
she → grow → initiative
But while she has been able to raise some income through the initiative, funding remains a major obstacle.
asserted
funding → raise → initiative
Yousra said young Sudanese entrepreneurs have limited access to skills training and institutional support, as well as struggling with bank requirements for guarantees that many cannot provide.
asserted
many → say → that
She also pointed to complex registration procedures and taxes as barriers to establishing and sustaining a business.
asserted
She → point → business
War-driven jobs crisis
Yousra’s experiences reflect a wider collapse in jobs and livelihoods.
asserted
experiences → drive → jobs
In a 2024 joint report by the United Nations Development Fund and the International Food Policy Research Institute, 31 percent of the 3,000 urban households surveyed had been displaced, while the share reporting no employment or income rose from 1.6 percent before the war to about 18 percent by the time of the survey.
asserted
share → survey → survey
Full-time employment also fell by half.
asserted
employment → fall → half
The World Bank, meanwhile, estimates that even as the economy grew modestly last year, with the government attempting to stabilise the areas of Sudan under its control, the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty rose from 33 percent in 2022 to 59 percent in 2025.
asserted
percentage → estimate → 2025
For young people whose education and livelihoods have been disrupted, the shrinking labour market has pushed some towards entrepreneurship and informal work as they search for ways to support themselves and their families, but they may not have the skills or experience to go into business for themselves.
uncertain
they → disrupt → themselves
International and government-backed programmes have been initiated to help some Sudanese develop the skills that they’ll need to run businesses.
asserted
they → back → businesses
The International Labour Organization said in May that its i-UPSHIFT programme had reached 500 young people in Kassala, providing entrepreneurship training, mentorship, and business incubation.
uncertain
programme → say → training
Thirty-eight youth-led teams – involving 160 participants, including 66 internally displaced people – went on to pitch business and social-enterprise ideas.
asserted
teams → lead → ideas
Sudan’s Ministry of Youth and Sports says it has also promoted vocational training and youth-led projects.
asserted
it → say → training
Minister Ahmed Adam Ahmed told Al Jazeera that two youth conferences had been held in Atbara and Kassala in an attempt to understand the views and aspirations of young people, as part of an effort to equip young people with practical skills that could help them earn an income.
uncertain
them → tell → income
Ahmed explained that one of the first conference’s outcomes was a proposed industrial city in River Nile State intended to support youth-led enterprises.
asserted
one → explain → enterprises
“Projects were also directed towards implementation in states considered safe, with some already under way,” Ahmed said.
asserted
Ahmed → direct → way
“The second conference in Kassala focused on practical applications and innovation, particularly artificial intelligence and the use of agricultural waste.”
asserted
conference → focus → waste
Turning art into a livelihood
asserted
Turning → turn → livelihood
The struggle to earn a living after displacement affects many Sudanese.
asserted
struggle → earn → Sudanese
Mahira, a 30-year-old visual artist who did not wish to give her full name, moved to Port Sudan after her home in Khartoum was damaged during the war.
asserted
home → wish → war
She now paints decorative pieces and murals, earning about 1 million Sudanese pounds ($130 at parallel market exchange rates) to help support her husband and son, but has worked a variety of jobs since being displaced.
asserted
She → paint → jobs
Before the war, she graduated with a degree in French and completed a diploma in fine arts, both from Sudan University of Science and Technology.
asserted
she → graduate → Science
“Since the war began, my main concern has been finding any income, no matter how much, to meet my family’s daily needs, despite how difficult it has been to find opportunities and funding,” she told Al Jazeera.
asserted
she → begin → Jazeera
Mahira initially took on several jobs in Port Sudan, including making soap, applying henna and makeup, and styling clothes.
asserted
Mahira → take → clothes
She then began working in home decoration after she volunteered to paint the walls of a woman’s house in the Salbouna neighbourhood.
asserted
she → begin → neighbourhood
“Everyone was surprised by my skills in decorating and beautifying homes,” she said.
asserted
she → surprise → homes
“After that, requests started coming from other residents in the neighbourhood asking me to paint and decorate their homes.
asserted
requests → come → homes
She later turned to more of her artistic work, conducting workshops on concrete art – an art form that uses cement-based materials to create decorative and artistic pieces – and teaching traditional dance at shelters.
asserted
that → turn → shelters
She worked with nongovernmental organisations running psychosocial support and skills-training programmes for displaced people.
asserted
She → work → people
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
