Strengthening Women’s Voices in Sudan (December 2010-February 2011)

In mid-December, Inclusive Security traveled to Juba, Sudan to host and facilitate several meetings with members of the Coalition of Women Leaders. The meetings included information sharing, interfaces with high-level policymakers, strategizing for advocacy, and an exchange visit with a fellow woman peacebuilder from Uganda.

During the trip, members of the Coalition met with Norwegian State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide. They specifically addressed the lack of women in Comprehensive Peace Agreement negotiations, the lack of gender training for peacekeeping forces, and lack of women included in the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) process. The women offered recommendations on how Norway could contribute to turning this around and State Secretary Eide was a clear ally for women’s inclusion and Inclusive Security is continuing to work with his staff.

During the December trip, Inclusive Security also invited Women Waging Peace Network member Lina Zedriga Waru to Juba to share with coalition members her experiences and strategies in mobilizing Ugandan women to participate in the talks between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army. Women gathered not only to hear Lina’s powerful and inspiring story, but also to strategize steps forward in pushing for more inclusive talks between the two parties to the talks.

Following the December trip, members of the Coalition also met with Ambassador Princeton Lyman, leader of the Sudan Negotiation Support Unit, in Juba to discuss their concerns and priorities regarding the post-Comprehensive Peace Agreement negotiations and to address the lack of women slated to be party to the talks. Ambassador Lyman agreed with their concerns and promised to raise the issue with the parties, but also urged the women to continue to raise these issues themselves with their own government bodies. As a result of the meeting in Juba, Ambassador Lyman reached out to Coalition members in Khartoum to conduct a similar meeting and learn about their concerns and priorities in the North and across the country.
 
This month, Inclusive Security is in Sudan for three weeks to address the priorities of women post-referendum. In collaboration with the South Sudan Women’s Empowerment Network, the Assessment and Evaluation Commission, Inclusive Security held a conference to discuss the ongoing post-referendum negotiations. Over 100 women from throughout Sudan participated in the four-day event in Juba February 17–20, 2011.  The conference, entitled “Mainstreaming Women’s Agenda in the Post Referendum Arrangements,” allowed women to set forth their priorities and recommendations for the four themes of the post-2011 referendum negotiations: citizenship, security, economic and natural resources, and international treaties.

After multiple consultations with women from throughout Sudan in February 2011, a consistent area of concern was the need for women to advocate for and secure participation in statebuilding moving forward. The January 2011 referendum resulted in secession, creating two states out of one. Moving forward, both states will endeavor upon constitutional reviews, and subsequent political processes that will inevitably differ, yet necessitate cooperation.  Women expressed the essential role women should play in these processes, beginning with the drafting of new constitutions.

For more information on Inclusive Security’s work in Sudan, please contact Farah Council.