Nobel Women's Initiative

Historically, northern Sudan was predominantly Arab and Muslim, while the south was predominantly African and a mixture of Christianity and Animism. These divisions were further emphasized in the British policies of ruling the north and south under separate administrations, and limiting contact and trade between the two regions. After decolonization, most power was given to the northern elites based in Khartoum, causing unrest in the south.
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"Today we know what is right, and today we know what is wrong. The slaughter of innocents is wrong. Two million people driven from their homes is wrong. Women gang raped while gathering firewood is wrong. And silence, acquiescence and paralysis in the face of genocide is wrong.""     -Barack Obama in 2006

Since early 2003, conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan has left between 200,000 to 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million Darfuris displaced. With the backing of the Government of Sudan, Arab militias-- called the Janjaweed-- are carrying out an ethnic cleansing campaign against non-Arab tribes in Darfur.

Little has been done to end the atrocities being committed in Darfur. Countless homes, schools, markets, and businesses have been burnt to the ground; crops have been decimated and livestock stolen. Women and children bear the brunt of the conflict. Rape is being used as a systematic weapon of war as a means to stigmatize, humiliate, and terrify women, girls, and families. Tens of thousands of children have been kidnapped and made child soldiers.

The deteriorating security situation, including attacks on humanitarian aid workers, has caused international NGOs to pull out of the region and led to extreme food shortages. Areas surrounding villages and camps are so heavily patrolled by militias that people leaving for water, wood, or food face the constant threat of death, abduction or rape. With their movement so severely limited, Darfurians have little ability to find resources and rebuild their lives.

(Jody Williams- second from left- with other members of the UN Human Rights Council Mission on the Darfur region of Sudan, during a Mission briefing.)

DARFUR & THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY

The international community has given Darfur intermittent support but thus far failed to come together in coordinated action to stop the mass atrocities. China is the primary economic, military, and political partner of the Government of Sudan, and has continued to provide political cover for Khartoum, even as the violence in Darfur has escalated and the Sudanese government has continued to defy the international community. Other supporters of the Sudanese regime include Russia, India, Malaysia and South Africa.

In February 2007, the UN Human Rights Council dispatched a High-Level Mission on the situation in Darfur and selected Nobel Laureate Jody Williams to lead the delegation. After the Mission, Williams presented a scathing report to the Council, condemning the Sudanese government for war crimes and calling for international governments to take immediate action to protect the people of Darfur.

In July 2007, the UN Security Council passed a resolution authorizing a joint Africa Union- UN peacekeeping mission of up to 26,000 troops to bolster the existing peacekeeping mission. The troops were scheduled to be deployed in December 2007, but full deployment has been delayed by consistent stall tactics by Sudan's government.

In late October 2007, the United Nations and African Union (AU) facilitated a start to peace talks, held in Libya, but key players were absent and the talks turned into consultations about negotiations. At the most recent peace talks in Qatar in February 2009, Sudan’s government and Darfur’s most powerful rebel group agreed to begin negotiations to end the conflict, but failed to agree on a cease-fire or include other rebel groups into the process.

The International Criminal Court has indicted State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Ahmed Haroun and alleged Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kosheib, in relation to the atrocities in the region. So far, however, the government in Khartoum has refused to hand either man over to the Court. In March 2009, the ICC issued a warrant for Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, Sudan’s president, on charges of being complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Darfur region. It is the first ever ICC indictment of a sitting leader.

LOOMING ELECTIONS

Elections are slated to take place in Sudan in July 2009.

In April 2008, the Government of Sudan began a census, a mandated prerequisite to holding the planned 2009 elections and subsequent referendum on independence for Southern Sudan. Southern Sudan agreed to the census, but reserved the right to reject its outcome.

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Download the pdf of the Report to the UN on the Mission to Darfur here.

Read the latest News on Darfur.

Take Action for the people of Darfur.

Read more about the connection between Darfur and the 2008 Beijing Olympics at our Olympics Issue page.

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For additional information on the crisis in Darfur:

Amnesty International: Stop the Violence in Darfur

Darfur Consortium: An African and International Civil Society Action for Darfur

Human Rights Watch: Crisis in Darfur

Peace Women: NGO Contacts in Sudan

Physicians for Human Rights: Rape as a Weapon of War in Darfur

Sudan Divestment Task Force: A Project of the Genocide Intervention Network

UNIFEM: Women, Peace & Security - Sudan Profile

Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice: Activities in Darfur

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