Since April 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. As a result, tens of thousands of people have been killed, twelve million have been displaced, and famine is imminent. On 24 July 2024, the United States invited the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to peace talks in Switzerland to take place on 14 August. So far, similar initiatives to bring about a ceasefire have failed. Prominent Sudanese mediator and peace activist Rabab Baldo is part of our global network Feminists Connecting for Peace. She has decades of experience working for a just peace in Sudan and explains what needs to happen for the talks in Switzerland to succeed.
Negotiations for a ceasefire in Sudan began in Geneva in mid-August. Fifteen Sudanese women also travelled there to demand to be part of the peace processes. In the swissinfo article, Rabab Baldo from our network and our director Deborah Schibler share their insights.
Through our Feminist Peace Initiatives we support local, innovative and feminist peacebuilding initiatives and projects of our network members. They are a tool for promoting and advancing the “Women, Peace and Security” agenda through self-identified community needs, and allow network members to try out new ideas that match their own priorities.
One consequence of the "super election year" 2024 is the marked increase in authoritarianism. It may take different forms depending on the country, but certain characteristics are recognisable everywhere: contempt for women and marginalised population groups and the restriction of their rights. In this world view, militarisation in the name of ‘security’ is being pursued at the expense of social welfare or non-military peacebuilding. What can be done to counter this onslaught of authoritarianism? networks of women activists. In 2024, our work with our programme partners and in the Feminists Connecting for Peace network repeatedly showed us the power and impact of these networks: they are both strongholds against authoritarianism and sources of creative and persistent action for peace.