Elevating Women's Voices in Sudan (February 2011)

Read “Mainstreaming Women’s Agenda in the Post-Referendum Arrangements,” a communique from the February conference.

Just weeks after the referendum that resulted in an over 99 percent vote in favor of secession, Inclusive Security traveled to Sudan to continue planning with Sudanese women for a peaceful creation of two new countries on July 9. On that day, the largest African country will split into two, creating the 193rd nation.

Ongoing negotiations between North and South to determine the relationship between what will soon be two separate nations have all but excluded women. Not a single woman sits on either of the lead negotiation teams nor acts as a key figure among the facilitators. Women also haven’t been systematically consulted to ensure the discussions address their priorities, such as dual citizenship, custody rights, and protection of mixed Northern and Southern families.

Additionally, women and their families suffer due to the lack of regulation in the oil sector, one of the key issues being negotiated. Water, soil, and air pollution from oil extraction sites increase disease, miscarriage, infant mortality, displacement, and food insecurity. These concerns are not being discussed in the talks, which are primarily focused on revenue sharing and transparency in the oil sector. Further, women are mostly absent from the decision making table between the government and oil companies, where their presence could make an important contribution by ensuring concessions from oil revenues go towards community development and access to better health care.

In late February in Juba, Inclusive Security facilitated a conference titled “Mainstreaming Women’s Agenda in the Post Referendum Arrangements” for more than 100 women from throughout Sudan. Discussion focused on the ongoing negotiations. Women were invited to share their recommendations for the talks’ four themes: citizenship, security, economic and natural resources, and international treaties.

Inclusive Security invited Canadian Sen. Mobina Jaffer—who served as Canada’s special envoy to the peace process in Sudan from 2003 to 2006 and who facilitated the Gender Expert Support Team during the final round of the Darfur talks in 2007— to contribute to the conference. The GEST, composed of 15 Darfurian women, helped to create one of the most gender-sensitive peace agreements to date. (The success of the GEST is described in Inclusive Security’s publication Strategies for Policymakers: Bringing Women into Peace Negotiations.) The women who attended the recent Juba conference ultimately recommended the formation of a GEST for the current North-South talks.

Complemented by continuous advocacy by women in Sudan to national decision makers and international facilitators, the conference raised awareness of the need for more inclusive, representative negotiations. In the weeks following the conference, the African Union High Level Implementation Panel’s lead facilitator, President Thabo Mbeki, requested a report on how to make the process more gender inclusive and elevated gender to a key discussion point. He also recommended that the parties include more women on both sides.

Women in State-Building after Secession
Negotiations related to secession are only one of several political processes which would benefit from an inclusive approach. Both states will write new constitutions, pursue electoral reform, define development priorities, and draft legislation.

In consultations with Inclusive Security, Sudanese women have consistently expressed the need for advocacy to secure their participation in state-building. The transition to two states will be peaceful only if processes are inclusive in both intent and in actual practice.

Inclusive Security will travel to Sudan in early May to consult with women leaders, including through a meeting of the Coalition of Women Leaders we’ve long supported who are working to ensure women’s inclusion post-secession. The Sudan team is planning three key activities during the trip:

1. Support and co-facilitate a diversity workshop with members of the women’s caucus of the National Assembly.
2. Build relationships and continue strategic planning with 40 members of the Coalition of Sudanese Women Leaders to map the upcoming political processes, actors, and entry points and to create a plan for action.
3. In partnership with the National Democratic Institute, support and co-facilitate a three-day workshop in Juba for women from civil society and the government to determine women’s experiences, roles, and priorities in constitution making with the intention of advancing the participation of women and elevating their priorities in the constitutional process.

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