SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa - Darfur still stands between the spread of COVID-19, organized violence, and the absence of rule of law

19/6/2020: Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa - Darfur still stands between the spread of COVID-19, organized violence, and the absence of rule of law

 On the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) called for an “inclusive, just, and fair approach to peacebuilding” in Darfur.

 SIHA call for the Sudanese government to:

  • Invest in justice and law enforcement infrastructure and survivor support services.

  •   Establish Darfur civilian regional governments and local legislative councils, and supporting them in “setting clear security arrangements and disarmament programmes with firm deadlines.”

  • Develop internal justice mechanisms inclusive of Darfuri civil society, particularly women and youth, and compliant with reparations demands from sexual violence survivors.

  • Ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, and abide by Resolution 1325.

 SIHA reported that rapes of displaced women in el-Fasher, north Darfur, have risen by 50%.