Awadeya Mahmoud

Awadeya Mahmoud

Awadeya Mahmoud Koko is a Sudanese woman, who is known for being the founder and chairperson of the Women's Food and Tea Sellers' Cooperative of Khartoum, along with the Women's Multi-Purpose Cooperative of Khartoum. On 28 March 2016, the United States Department of State announced her as one of the recipients of the 2016 International Women of Courage Award.

Quotes

• When I arrived on the first day of the sit-in, I didn’t find human beings, I found lions determined to fight for their rights.
• Do anything to help, even if it’s just chanting and clapping against the regime.
• None of the existing workers unions defended us because they cared more about working with the government than speaking for regular people.
• I am optimistic because, unlike in the 1985 revolution, all of Sudan is participating. The new president will have to be fair with men and women.
  • taken from an article by Madamasr, 21 May 2019
• The war displaced my whole family and my children never healed from the horror they felt.
• What WFP is doing is not easy. It's what we need the most in Sudan because you’re mobilizing food around the world for people.
  • taken from an article by United Nations Sudan, 2 August 2023
• They confiscate our belongings and take them to the police station, they make us pay a fine and then a week later they do it again. It’s because we’re not socially acceptable. They don’t want to see us on the streets.
• The people at the sit-in were like our children. We had suffered severely under the last regime, and we had hopes for change.
• Their families are still hoping that they’re alive. They don’t want to believe they’re dead.
  • taken from an article by the Globe and Mail, 8 July 2019