'Why Women?' Communicating the Importance of Electing Women - Inclusive Security Training in Sudan

In the last week of June, 2008 Inclusive Security’s Jacqueline O’Neill and Evelyn Thornton traveled to Khartoum to lead trainings on a variety of political and electoral topics for women Members of Parliament in Sudan’s multi-party National Assembly Women’s Caucus. Inclusive Security was invited by the executive committee of the caucus, which represents all parts of Sudan, to present to the women MPs, each an appointed member of the transitional government facing election in 2010.

Sudan has 82 women MPs—all of them members of the caucus—and 50 attended at least one day of the training. (With more than 400 members in Sudan’s parliament, women hold approximately 19 percent of seats.) MPs remained in Khartoum for the one-and-a-half days of training even after a surprise extension of their session to debate Sudan’s draft electoral law.

‘Why Women?’ Communicating the Importance of Electing Women focused on increasing the members’ commitment to working as a coalition; increasing their ability to communicate a compelling case for strong representation of women in parliament; increasing members’ commitment to strengthening their caucus; and sharing activities and lessons from other women’s caucuses around the world.

The training included presentation and discussion of stories and video clips from countries including Bosnia and Northern Ireland, as well as role play activities in which women candidates campaigned in a variety of realistic settings, such as community meetings, weddings, and markets. The training also included discussion of the elements of a strong women’s caucus, including review of the strategies and structure of the Forum of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians. Some of the elements of a strong caucus that emerged from discussion included unity, determination, strong lobbying skills, the ability to speak with one voice, good contact with the community and with each other, open exchange of views, willingness to agree to disagree, social communication among members, and respect for different cultures.

The training ended with a plan for Inclusive Security to return several times over the next six months to conduct additional trainings for members of the caucus. Participants enjoyed the sessions so much that despite one and a half days of training, they requested future trainings to be longer and to cover a greater variety of topics. Participants also indicated a strong interest in more training focused on elections. Inclusive Security is now in discussions with the executive committee of the women’s caucus to deliver additional trainings in Khartoum, and potentially in Juba. 

This Inclusive Security training was funded through a grant from the Government of Norway, a long-time supporter of Inclusive Security.