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The Interview
Emi Mahmoud, poet: Has the world abandoned Sudan?
The Interview
Apr 29, 2025

James Copnall, presenter of Newsday, speaks to Emi Mahmoud, Sudanese activist and poet, about the war that has claimed more than 150,000 lives since it began two years ago. In what the United Nations has called the world's largest humanitarian crisis, about 12 million people have also been forced to flee their homes.

Emi speaks about the pain of losing many members of her family, the brutality of the current conflict in the western region of Darfur which she believes to be genocide, and the trafficking of women and girls caught up in the fighting.

In the aftermath of the destruction of the Zamzam camp for displaced people, she describes life in the community there - and calls on the world to do more to resolve the violence in Sudan. As an award-winning poet, she uses her poems to spread her message.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: James Copnall Producers: Clare Williamson, Lucy Sheppard, Madeleine Drury Editor: Max Deveson

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

Image: Emi Mahmoud attends TIME100 Women's Leadership Forum at Chelsea Piers, Studio 59 on September 10, 2024 in New York City (Credit: Shannon Finney/Getty Images for TIME)

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23min 00sec

Emi Mahmoud, poet: Has the world abandoned Sudan?

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