Executive Summary
PEACE TALKS Who listens? The Role of Women in Political Transformations for a More Just, Peaceful, and Inclusive Society.
01 INTRODUCTION Freedom. Peace. Justice. Three years after the eruption of the 2018-2019 Revolution, the echoes of these ideals still reverberate across the nation. While the ousting of the Bashir regime was a watershed moment in the history of Sudan, it also illustrated that the journey towards the ‘new Sudan’ had only just begun. The transitional government, led by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, set five key priorities for the transitional period; chief among them were the questions of sustainable peace and advancing a democratic transition. However, socioeconomic grievances went unaddressed, peace remained elusive, security sector reform was not on the agenda, and women’s legitimate demands for reform were met with performative politics. Despite public commitments to bolster the role of women in all tiers of governance and decision-making processes, and despite calls by civil society, women, and feminist organizations to move from rhetoric to action, the transitional government offered little more than empty platitudes. To use the words of the former Prime Minister, the changes were “below ambition.” The Criminal Act and Personal Status Law continue to protect perpetrators of violence against women and girls (VAW/G) and the much-celebrated Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) that was meant to “silence the sound of the rifle and restore hope to millions of IDPS and refugees”1 has amounted to nothing more than ink on paper. The international community and Sudan’s politico-military elites celebrated the JPA as a triumph ushering in a “new era for the people of Sudan.” If anything, the JPA ushered in a new era and threw a lifeline to ‘payroll peace’ actors2. While the JPA stresses the role of women in peacebuilding and calls for the codification of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the human rights violations and gender-based violence committed by its signatories continue unabated. A mere year after the international community and elites hailed the JPA as a historic breakthrough, the military and the signatories to the JPA orchestrated a coup that dealt a heavy blow to the transitional period and cast a shadow of doubt on the implementation of the agreement. The impetus for this research was to better understand women’s lived experiences and the intersecting factors that shape their manifold perspectives on peace and security. The objective of this paper is twofold. First, to center women’s diverse voices, knowledge, experiences, and contributions to peacebuilding. Second, invite discussions and conversations – across divides and outside of echo chambers - on the issues of peace and state-building that have long been deferred. The group discussions, limited as they were, offered valuable insights but also gave way to profound questions that remain to be answered. This summary document highlights the key themes, takeaways, and reflections that emanated from the discussions.
1
Former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s Resignation Speech De Waal, Alex (2019) Sudan: a political marketplace framework analysis. Occasional Papers (19). World Peace Foundation and the Conflict Research Programme, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK 2
02 WHOSE PEACE AND SECURITY? Sudan’s history is littered with peace processes and agreements brokered through international efforts, including the recent Juba Peace Agreement. These processes remain structurally flawed as they approach peace and security through the narrow prisms of liberal peace3, militarism and masculinized state security, thereby privileging the demands and priorities (wealth and power sharing) of warlords, elites and international actors, to the detriment of citizens. What do peace and security mean?
Experiences of insecurity before, during and after conflict are gendered, and women’s insecurity is particularly heightened by long-standing and interlocking structures of violence and inequality. However, the understanding of security (state security) that underpins men-led peacebuilding efforts often fails to consider the multidimensional threat to women’s security and the continuum of violence that shapes and disrupts their day-to-day lives. When asked what security means to them, Respondents broadly framed security as a precondition to peace. Feeling safe and secure evoked thoughts of a tranquil life, free from fear. Emphasis was also placed on freedom, the provision of basic services, and living a stable life.
Security means… “Stability at the level of the family, society, and state” – FGD1, al-Fashir “Not experiencing problems at home, on the street, or in the workplace” FGD, al-Dalanj “Being able to express your opinion freely. It means feeling safe internally and externally. It means peace” – FGD1, Nyala “It’s the sense of feeling of being able to lead a normal life” FGD, Kadugli
Peace is… “Living like every other human being. Enjoying basic human rights. Not feeling afraid for my safety or my family. It means feeling my humanity” FGD2, al-Fasher “Not living in fear. It means not to wake up every day and be stricken by grief and loss” - FGD2, Kassala
3
Assal, Abdul-Jalil, and Egemi (2020)