‘Sudanese women deserve the Nobel Peace Prize’

Q: Why has war erupted again in Sudan despite ongoing efforts to foster peace?

A: You have to talk to your enemy to make peace. Actors and factors in conflict can be many. Conflict can only be resolved together with all stakeholders. The problem is that conflicts may resume when they are not resolved in an inclusive manner.

Q: What have Sudanese women done to encourage peace?

A: Women were tired of war. My research demonstrates that their struggle for peace was not in vain. Their contributions and demands reflected longer term interests. For example, improving women’s economic situation and their political participation. Affirmative action is one of the achievements. Their struggle and efforts did not stop at the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.

Q: What international support was designed to help Sudanese women? Did it reach them?

A: International support ranged from training, for example, in conflict resolution, mediation, trauma counselling and facilitating dialogue. Interestingly, following their training, these women were asked to mediate conflicts in places like Kakuma refugee camp or some of the villages. Their travel was also supported internationally.

Q: You talk about women’s empowerment during the war. How can that happen?

A: When wars start, men either flee or join the armed struggle. Women are left behind. They become responsible for the survival of their families and have to earn a living. Relationships between men and women change. A number of women also participated in the armed struggle. Women moved beyond their traditional domestic and socio-economic roles. Besides unimaginable losses, trauma and disempowerment, women also speak of empowerment.

Q: Have you noted any social changes after you returned to Sudan after 10 years?

A: I have observed social change. Women have become breadwinners and more and more women are getting an education. They are starting businesses, they organise themselves, migrate for education and work. Women even delay marriage to look after their parents, brothers and sisters and pay for their own education. These are all things that were previously unheard of.

Q: How did women contribute to the peace process unofficially?

A: For more than 10 years women helped efforts to build peace in a variety of ways. Although they were not invited as mediators and did not become signatories of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (2005), they prepared joint statements, lobbied and found ways to influence the peace talks.

Q: What point stands out during your research into women’s contribution to peace?

A: The fact that women did not sit silently. Instead they worked really hard towards peace, something that remains underreported and unrecognised. Their participation does not show up in the official figures. If you only look at women’s participation when a peace agreement is signed you miss out on a lot of peace work carried out by women behind the scenes. This is not to say that figures are not important. The participation of women in formal peace processes is important but their participation in informal peace processes also deserves recognition.

Q: You said the problem lies in the implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1325, the first to deal directly with the issue of gender during repatriation, resettlement and reintegration. What can policy makers do to implement it?

A: Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security is one of the least well implemented Security Council Resolutions. One wonders why that is the case. What struck me during my research among policy makers and practitioners was that there is a tendency to see women as victims instead of actors. One easily seems to forget that women like men, are socio-economic and political actors.

Another issue I came across is scepticism about potential gains for women in the long run. Many think once there is peace, women will be sent back to the kitchen. It certainly does not help when this is the mind-set. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I really hope that my research opens new perspectives in relation to peace building, the transition from war to relative peace and the implementation of UN SCR 1325.

Q: Why weren’t women involved in the recent Addis Ababa negotiations?

A: The fact that no women participated in the negotiations in Addis Ababa tells you more about the political leaders responsible for their exclusion than anything else.

Q: What conclusions have you drawn from your research into Sudanese women’s role in the peace process?  

A: Based on my research findings -- and if it were up to me -- I would have presented the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize not only to Liberian and Yemeni women but also to women from Sudan and South Sudan. If the committee of Nobel prize read my book they will agree. There are many groups of women in Sudan who worked hard to bring the peace to their country.