Khalida Zahir

Khalida Zahir (1927 – 2015) (also: Khalda) was one of the first female Sudanese doctors and women's rights activist.

Khalida Zahir
BornOmdurman 
OccupationPhysician 

Childhood and education

Zahir was born in Omdurman. She graduated from the Kitchener School of Medicine, at what later became the University of Khartoum, in 1952, along with Z Serkisiani.[1]

Medical career

Khalida and Serkisiani were the first female doctors of medicine in Sudan.[1]

Khalida treated poor people free of charge in her clinic. She became head of paediatrics at the Sudanese Ministry of Health. She retired in 1986.[2]

Political activism

Khalida was the first female member of the student union in 1947 and she joined the peace negotiations in relation to southern Sudan the same year. Khalida was one of the few women who joined a political party in the 1940s. She founded the Young Women's Cultural Society with Fatima Talib in 1948.[3] The first Sudanese women's organization, it provided education for women on health, reading and writing.[2] She was among the founders of the Sudanese Women's Union (SWU) in 1952, an organization which campaigned for suffrage and labour rights.[2] Khalida was elected president of SWU in 1958.[4]

Death

Khalida died 9 June 2015.[4]

References
  1. Mohamed IN, Abdelraheem MB, Abdullah MA (2012). "Sudanese female doctors in paediatrics" (PDF). Sudanese Journal of Paediatrics. 12.2: 36–43.
  2. Mubarak, Khalid Al (2015-06-23). "Khalida Zahir obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  3. Turshen, Meredeth (2000-01-01). African Women's Health. Africa World Press. pp. xi. ISBN 9780865438125 – via Google Books.
  4. "1st January Sudan National Day: Women Role In Independence Movement". Sudanow. 2018-12-23. Archived from the original on 2019-11-15. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
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