Joint letter to Emirati women leaders participating in COP28, requesting their public support for Sudanese women bearing the brunt of war, climate change and gender-based violence, ahead of and during the upcoming climate conference.

November 23, 2023

In recognition of your stature as women leaders and climate defenders* seeking to inspire generations to come, we are writing this letter to you to request your solidarity with the women of conflict-ridden Sudan who are bearing the heaviest brunt of the war, including kidnapping, enforced disappearance and subjugation to sexual violence and rape.

Publicly expressing your support for the women and girls in Sudan would send a strong message that this unfathomable violence is not justifiable, nor should be tolerated.

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International Peace Day – Actions for Women’s Peace: Prioritising Good Governance, Inclusivity and Non-violence

Women’s International Peace Centre joins the rest of the world in commemorating International Peace Day under this year’s theme, “Actions for Peace: Our Ambition for the #GlobalGoals.” The theme is a call to action that underscores our individual and collective roles in fostering a world where the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are not just aspirations but realities—a world where the achievement of these goals paves the way for a culture of peace for all. We recognise that SDG16+[1] on peaceful, just and inclusive societies directly addresses the challenge of fragility and is a vital accelerator of Agenda 2030. However, progress on SDG16+ is poorer[2] than on almost any other SDG. Present global trends are discouraging as violence targeting civilians is becoming increasingly more common and deadly[3].

The Russia-Ukraine war has overshadowed all other conflicts, both in the sheer scale of violence and its deadliness, thus concealing a significant overall deterioration of the security situation in most other regions worldwide. The war, coupled with Russian military influence in Africa including the use of private military contractors like the Wagner Group in Mozambique and the Sahelian States of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, has exacerbated conflicts in these regions, leading to increased instability on the continent. The proliferation of military bases, weapons and ammunitions as witnessed in Sudan has transformed[4] violent acts into more complex war-like scenarios.

In such conflicts,  women often bear the brunt of violence and insecurity. For instance, as the war in Sudan rages on, gender-based violence (including conflict-related sexual violence) is a major concern, with an estimated 2.7 million women and girls at risk[5] due to the disruption of services and lawlessness as a result of the conflict. In Ethiopia’s Tigray region, 2,204[6] women and girls reported sexual violence to health facilities between November 2020 and June 2021. One of the one-stop centres reported that the victims in over 90% of cases were underage girls and estimated that visits to the centre had quadrupled since the conflict erupted in 2020.

Women in Africa continue to be relegated to the margins and their participation in peace negotiations is starkly hindered by the militarisation of peace processes. During the Luanda and Nairobi peace consultations on the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), women were significantly absent. Likewise, in the Chad peace talks in Doha in 2022, there was only one woman among the over 50 participants[7] present. In the current Sudan crisis, women have been significantly excluded from the formal ceasefire negotiations despite glaring evidence that they are effective in driving political transition and advocating for sustainable peace and stability.

The sobering reality in the DRC and South Sudan as the two countries prepare for elections serves as a stark testament to the persistent and deeply troubling trend of women’s ongoing exclusion from vital political processes. There are reports of rising violence against women, political leaders and activists in the DRC. Women also face barriers to vote, such as the lack of voter documentation required for registration and the general lack of information on electoral procedures, especially in the more isolated rural areas in North Kivu, Ituri and Mai-Ndombe which are currently under the control of armed groups.  Women voters in rural and remote areas in South Sudan still lack access to credible information about the electoral process. Refugees and internally displaced women face challenges of restricted mobility and the lack of necessary identification documents to register and participate in the election process.

As the world celebrates this day of non-violence and cessation of hostilities, we re-echo the ideals envisioned by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.  We emphasize that Actions for Women’s Peace include: advocating for women’s safe, meaningful and effective participation in peace processes as a fundamental component of sustainable peace; supporting efforts that prioritize non-violent conflict resolution and mediation, with a gender-sensitive approach that acknowledges the distinct experiences and needs of women in conflict zones; and standing against all forms of gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, which often escalates during conflicts, we therefore:

  1. Call for a shift towards promoting credible elections and good governance in Africa, including comprehensive electoral reforms, encompassing transparent voter registration and robust mechanisms to prevent electoral fraud which will strengthen the integrity of elections to increase public trust in democratic process. Strong institutions, the rule of law, and respect for human rights should also be promoted as fundamental components of good governance.
  2. Urge the prioritisation of inclusive and non-violent approaches to peacebuilding, with a central focus on dialogue as a means to achieve stable and sustainable ceasefires. These approaches should also aim to prevent the escalation of conflict and ensure the protection of civilians.
  3. Encourage governments to reduce military expenditures and redirect resources away from excessive military spending towards social services. This reallocation of resources should address the immediate needs of communities, rectify governance deficits, improve quality of life, and contribute to global stability.

[1] “SDG16+” refers here to the targets established under SDG16 as well as 36 targets from 7 other goals that directly measure an aspect of peace, justice or inclusion

[2] https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/resource-documents/12424.pdf

[3] Global Disorder in 2022

[4]https://onpolicy.org/the-ukraine-russia-war-on-peace-and-security-challenges-in-africa/#:~:text=The%20Russia%2DUkraine%20war%20has,between%20Africa%20and%20the%20West.

[5] Sudan. 2022 HNO: IM Global GBV Country | Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility (gbvaor.net)

[6] Assessing the State of SRHR in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Countries in Africa

[7] 2022  Women and peace and security Report of the Secretary-General

The Resilience of Young Urban Refugees in Uganda

In January 2022, The Peace Centre trained 30 young urban refugees living in Uganda from Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan on leadership and peacebuilding. The training aimed to promote young urban refugee women and GBV survivors’ leadership in peace-building processes by equipping them with skills and knowledge to fully understand the policy frameworks, design messages, identify opportunities for influencing and plan the next steps in their advocacy.

The following are documented stories of some of the participants of the training and how they have been impacted over time. Here they also share experiences and challenges regarding settling in Uganda. All names used in these stories are pseudonyms.

SALMA

I am the Director of ‘Stand Up and Shine Foundation’, an initiative established to help refugees in my community. As a source of income, I operate a bakery and a tailoring shop. In my community, there have been multiple cases of gender-based violence some of which get to be reported and others that never make it to the light. These to mention but a few include; employers abusing their employees, stepfathers raping their stepdaughters and mothers forcing their children into prostitution in order to secure some income for the family.

On multiple occasions, I have had to intervene in these cases by reporting them to village leaders as well as the Police. However, without much reliance on the police that ‘continues to fail us, I offer counselling and guidance to girls and young women refugees that have been victims of societal vices like gender-based violence. Similarly, I offer training in tailoring and baking skills to these victim girls and young women to help them get their lives back on track.

As a result of the peacebuilding training, I am more informed of my rights as a refugee- what is acceptable and non-acceptable to me, how I can participate in decision-making as a woman and I am more aware of the different ways to defend myself. With this, therefore, I have gone ahead to train other fellow refugees on how to foster peace in their homes and the community at large.

Also, as part of my training lessons, I have mastered the skill of looking for opportunities to better myself in all spheres of life. This has been very instrumental to the growth of my business as I wake every morning with a vision of meeting new people and finding new opportunities.

I hope to see my community change for the better. I desire an establishment of a major training Centre where refugees can be trained in various skills such as English, computer and social skills, baking, cooking and many more that can help them live a decent life even while in a foreign country.

JEANNE

“I had suicidal thoughts at a certain point of my life but that well-being session made me look at life differently thereafter.” Jeanne is a 40 yr old Congolese refugee leader in Kitebi, an area she has been living in for the last 12 yrs since she arrived in Uganda.

Upon learning about mental wellness in the training, I was encouraged to embrace my life as one that is precious and needs to be taken care of. I was also encouraged to stay true to myself, keep positive and be hopeful in all situations.

Today, I am very passionate about mental wellness seeing that many refugees suffer from a lot of stress-related issues but have no knowledge of how to deal with them. I have made it my sole responsibility to sensitize people about taking care of their mental health in my community.

I have since embraced writing as a form of therapy helping me deal with unresolved feelings in my heart rather than bottling them up within. This has helped me remain strong even in the most difficult situations.

Through the writing process, I also encourage my fellow refugees to write down their experiences. ‘This has helped them express their feelings.  Above all, I encourage them to be grateful for having Life because with the life they have hope for a better future.

I have also engaged with refugees in some of the settlements where I was taken to work as a volunteer, at the hospital.

I take a keen interest in interacting with women and girls who are victims of gender-based violence in the community. I help them look at life as an always-changing process with both good and bad things happening but one ought to be open-minded at all times.

In cases of rape or defilement, I mobilize colleagues to help victim girls by seeking medical attention from health centres as well as carrying out check-ups, the survivors are introduced to pep treatment while it’s still early and then we report the cases to the persons responsible especially village leaders and Police.

The latter however hasn’t yielded much success as they are not many refugee cases reported in the community that are taken seriously.

I reported a case of a 16-year-old girl that was defiled and became pregnant. Upon giving birth, she was denied a birth certificate from the hospital because of failure to provide evidence for the identity of the baby’s father. When the case was reported to the Police, no help was rendered to the young lady to date.

According to Jeanne, many refugees’ needs are neglected in the communities they live in which makes it harder for them to heal from the trauma of war they faced in their home countries.

“I want to see that my people can sustain themselves, that they have hope to eat, sleep peacefully, can be able to go to hospital and be attended to.”- Jeanne said, “this is the only way I will be fully content as a leader”.

EBONY

Ebony is a Congolese refugee leader heading a saving group for refugees in Najjanankumbi. According to her, this group was formed with an aim of ‘chasing’ poverty amongst refugees so they can all have a better chance at life.

Through the Peace Centre training, Ebony has since become an effective leader in her community; She has learnt how to deal with people, especially when addressing community problems.

For instance, in cases of domestic violence, she mobilizes committee leaders of the group to collect money to buy foodstuffs, sugar, soap, and other home utilities that they carry to the victims’ homes to help settle the matter. With this, they then go ahead to advise the couple against domestic violence and its dangers.

However, due to COVID-19, there have been spiralled numbers of teenage pregnancies and domestic violence cases in the community. These have unfortunately slowed down  the response rate of individuals in addressing these matters. Ebony associates these escalated problems with the high poverty levels of people to the point where husbands now beat their wives over very small matters.

“Hunger is making people do what they are not supposed to do; people end up fighting when they are hungry and everything annoys them.”

Through her savings program, Ebony was able to open a mini supermarket as a source of income to sustain her family. In return, she was able to help other refugees with relief, especially in form of food for those that were in desperate need of help.

Regrettably, the supermarket has been closed down due to the failure of paying up the accumulated rent dues that were a result of the Covid-19 Lockdown.

‘It hasn’t been easy since,’ She said, as most members of the group don’t attend meetings anymore. ‘There’s nothing in it for them so they would rather go look for food elsewhere to feed their families.’

Among many things, Ebony is grateful for the training session on wellness as she is using the skills acquired to withstand stress and keep sane even in the hardest of times. She maintains strong courage with the hope that things will get better soon.

She continues to encourage girls and young women that are victims of gender-based violence to keep holding on and not give up while assisting them in any way she’s able to.

Ebony believes that with the necessary assistance, refugees can be able to put their skills and creativity to proper use. That is to say; when they are trained, they should be supported a step further with capital to get their businesses running. Otherwise, without support like that, most of them end up failing to even start.

Promoting Peace, Security and Justice: Experiences and Lessons from Civil Society Organisations in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan

This 53rd edition of Women’s World highlights the experiences, good practices, and lessons learned by the Just Future civil society partners in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and South Sudan advancing inclusive peace, people-centred security, and access to justice.

From Burundi, we share the peacebuilding experience of L’association des Femmes Rapatriés du Burundi (AFRABU) a women-led non-governmental organisation focused on strengthening access to justice for women, youth, and vulnerable groups. The DRC write-up presents the experiences, achievements, challenges, and lessons learned in the role played by civil society organizations (CSOs) such as Reseau pour la Réforme du Secteur de Sécurité et Justice (RRSSJ) in the implementation of security sector reform processes. The article also proposes recommendations likely to mitigate the obstacles that undermine the effectiveness of the envisaged reforms. The work of SOS- Information Juridique Multisectorielle (SOS-IJM) and Dynamique Des Femmes Juristes (DFJ) in the implementation of legal clinics in North and South Kivu in the DRC offers key lessons on legal aid services for alternative dispute resolution in a complex conflict-affect context dealing with multiple challenges within the judicial system.

The experience of Eve Organisation for Women Development in South Sudan offers good practices to consider when working with the security sector, to address sexual and gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence of the South Sudan Law Society illuminates the critical role of civil society in advocating for transitional justice and their involvement in the implementation.

Womens’ World 53_English

Interrogating Elections in Africa: Are there alternatives?

Elections are a key ingredient of democratic governance and women’s political participation is seen as a prerequisite for any truly democratic process. The discipline of acquiring power through an election is assumed to make governments accountable to citizens and confer legitimacy. However, in the absence of women’s full and equal participation as voters, political candidates, critical actors in the electoral processes and, elected office, governments cannot claim to be fully accountable to citizens. Women’s leadership and participation are expected to not only determine the dynamics and distribution of political power but to be active participants in all activities of political parties thereby shaping the nature of institutions that wield political and economic power.

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Women at the Forefront of Conflict Resolution

While powerful gains have been made in the field of Women, Peace and Security at a broader level with an increase in the number of women in politics and governance alongside the national policies and laws, it is still vital to focus on women leaders in religious, cultural and civil society spaces while acknowledging the peacebuilding realities women are navigating through.

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Maximising Youth Potential in Peacebuilding Processes

In Uganda, more than 78% of the population is below the age of 30. These represent an enormous untapped potential that can significantly contribute to the country’s political and social development if they are actively involved in influencing, shaping, designing and contributing to policy formulation and development processes. That being said, it is critical that youth inclusively participate in peacebuilding processes to ensure sustainable and inclusive peace.

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