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What's New in the News - Female Delegates to Join Sudan Peace Talks, Address Gender Violence
August 9, 2024
What's in the News: African Edition
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Female Delegates to Join Sudan Peace Talks, Address Gender Violence
12 Sudanese women from various civil society sectors are set to participate in next week's Sudan peace talks in Geneva, marking a crucial step towards addressing the ongoing gender violence in the region.
Representatives from female-led Sudanese civil society groups have been invited to the talks, which begin on August 14, 2024. Their participation is a significant gesture of inclusion, aiming to address the widespread gender-based violence that has plagued the country during the 15-month conflict.
The peace talks are being co-hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, with additional participation from the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Nations. However, while these talks aim to resolve the civil war between Sudan's two rival military factions, they are not designed to address broader political issues, according to the U.S. State Department.
Entisar Abdelsadig, a senior adviser at the peacebuilding organization Search for Common Ground, stated that the women-led delegation would prioritize protecting people against atrocities, particularly gender-based violence. She highlighted the importance of including women in the monitoring mechanism of the peace agreement, which is expected to involve civilian-led reporting using both physical and online channels.
More than a year of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has displaced nearly 10 million people across the Greater Horn of Africa, leaving 26 million facing crisis-level hunger.
As the peace talks progress, it remains critical that the international community continues to support efforts to address and reduce gender-based violence in Sudan, a nation that has suffered tremendously due to prolonged conflict.
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