Recommendations from Sudanese Women Leaders

It is a dark time for the Sudanese people and their nation. Today, violence is spreading in Sudan, and funding has contracted abruptly for humanitarian assistance, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding.

An esteemed, diverse group of Sudanese leaders met from May 6-8 in Nairobi to consider the future. In developing recommendations for action, they would emphasize that:

• Greater direct funding of local organizations, especially women and youth-led organizations, would enable a larger share of diminishing resources to reach people in need. The sudden, substantial gaps in assistance are severely undermining the well-being of Sudanese people, particularly women and children. Accelerated localization would help reduce gaps.
• More attention is critically needed to the epidemic of sexual and gender based violence, which is a central weapon of this war. Today, far too little is being done to detect, deter, and treat victims. It simply cannot continue.
• The humanitarian aid system is being used to achieve political aims. Further, it is being undermined by corruption, the redirection of assistance, and threats to service providers. Donors must better monitor the delivery and distribution of aid, especially so that a diminished pool of resources is used as effectively as possible by all warring parties.
• Increased focus on online communication and information dissemination is essential. Widespread digital hate speech and abuse, misinformation, and disinformation are perpetuating the conflict and fomenting violence and radicalization. There simply must be attention to moderating content and removing malign actors.

For Improving Provision of
Humanitarian Assistance

Recommendations for Donors:

• Allocate 40% of all donor funds for Sudan to women’s organizations and programs addressing challenges faced by women. Time and again, Sudanese women have demonstrated their roles as effective decision makers for their families and communities, leaders within their communities, service providers, and as heads of households. At the same time, women and girls have been at the center of suffering caused by the war. Meeting this target for donor funds will underscore and strengthen women’s agency and ability to support their communities. It will also recognize the central role of women’s organizations now and in Sudan’s future. Funding should be maximally flexible and include capacity strengthening for women leaders and their organizations. 
• Advance localization through direct support to Sudanese organizations and local entities, especially women and youth-led organizations. Many local Sudanese organizations have a strong track record of delivering successful, compliant programs. Directly funding these organizations will strengthen their capacity, be more cost-effective in a time of resource scarcity, and be more sustainable than routing funds through international intermediaries. 
• Increase funding for sexual and reproductive health services, including for Sudanese refugees and displaced communities, and focus especially on victims of sexual and gender-based violence. In 2024, the number of gender-based violence survivors seeking services increased by nearly 300 percent, a figure still substantially underreported. Despite this urgent need, women’s access to healthcare has dramatically decreased. Additional funding is needed, and should particularly target remote and conflict-affected areas in Darfur, Nuba Mountains, and Blue Nile, as well as in cross-border areas. Funding should support comprehensive services, including medical services, mental health and trauma counseling, education, livelihood support, and legal aid.
• Dedicate financial and technical support for human rights defenders (including journalists, legal defenders, and activists) on the front lines. Human rights defenders (HRDs) play a critical role in exposing rights violations connected to the provision of humanitarian aid, including in relation to women’s rights, children’s rights, right to food, right to water, right to health, and more. They also document corruption, expose sexual violence and trafficking in humanitarian settings, and increase access to justice. Yet today, global resources and mechanisms that support HRDs are under threat, and other donors need to fill the gaps.

Recommendations for Regional and Multilateral Bodies:

• Urgently identify and commit to efforts that improve civilian protection, including the necessary safeguards for aid workers (especially local service providers, local volunteers, and women- and youth-led efforts, such as Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs)). Conflict severely disrupts civilian lives and can expose aid workers to targeted attacks, restricting their ability to deliver critical humanitarian assistance. Local entities, including but not limited to police, have a critical role to play in civilian protection. Regional and multilateral bodies that provide humanitarian aid have a duty of care to protect their staff, partners, and beneficiaries.
• Create civilian protection zones and safe corridors for aid distribution to prevent further suffering of civilians. The UN Security Council and African Union should examine the flow of arms, identify ways to strengthen the capacity of civilian police and community policing, and consider the need for a hybrid peacekeeping Mission. Where safe zones cannot be established, other methods for delivering aid that protect civilians and aid workers should be considered. 
• Create stronger monitoring, oversight and accountability mechanisms that tackle corruption within aid delivery and aid diversion. Currently, all aid is not reaching those in need. Further, armed actors are using intimidation to inhibit service delivery and distribution. The donor community must better oversee the delivery of goods and services to avoid leakage and loss.
• Ensure that aid deliveries consider the holistic needs of women and their communities. In addition to food aid, regional and multilateral aid agencies should provide resources, including seeds, agricultural supplies, and solar panels. These resources should be delivered in accordance with planting cycles and be monitored to ensure distribution does not increase local tensions. Supplies for women’s and child health services are also urgently needed.
• Increase collaboration with functioning and trusted local authorities. In certain states, such as White Nile, Kassala, Al Gezira, Nuba Mountains, Senar, and the northern states, local governments are able to effectively provide public services. These are also areas that host large numbers of displaced communities. The international community must invest in capacity building for local authorities, strengthening their ability to provide for education, health care, infrastructure, and local safety.

For Enabling Durable Conflict Resolution

Recommendations for Stakeholders Seeking Talks:

• Ensure that any talks regarding a ceasefire or a long-term peace accord include a diverse range of stakeholders, including but not limited to women and civil society representatives. Myriad models of inclusion exist for negotiations; those should serve as building blocks for a Sudan-appropriate model for talks.
• Ensure that mediators, third-party facilitators, and observers uphold neutrality and maintain accountability to Sudanese civilians, particularly women. At times, women participants in talks have faced intimidation, political interference, or pressure by international and regional actors, including embassies. Their mandate is to facilitate peace, not to dictate the road.

• • Commit that any future negotiations in Sudan recognize the long history of injustice, human rights violations, and mass atrocities, including the genocide in the Nuba Mountains, Darfur, and other genocidal acts across the country. Sudanese citizens must be made aware of the history through fact-finding, education, and other accountability processes. Handing al-Bashir and his accomplices over to the ICC should be part of the negotiating process. 
  • Introduce a binding code of conduct at the outset of any negotiations, applying to all members of armed groups from senior commanders to rank-and-file soldiers. This code must be gender-sensitive, include explicit provisions on preventing gender-based violence, and establish clear accountability for violations, particularly those affecting women and girls. The African Protocol to the African Charter on the Human Rights of Women could serve as a foundational reference. 
  • Hold peace process participants accountable for hate speech. Explicit commitments to refrain from spreading hate speech should be embedded within the terms of any peace accord or ceasefire agreement. 
  • Establish a transparent hybrid humanitarian monitoring mechanism as part of any ceasefire to ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian aid delivery. The body should be composed of 50% Sudanese and 50% international actors (including representatives of the African Union and neighboring states). Among the Sudanese representatives, at least half should be women and youth. This body should be mandated to monitor the receipt and distribution of humanitarian aid, and operate a transparent complaints mechanism accessible to the public.
  • Include, as a condition of any peace agreement, a commitment to establish a hybrid tribunal addressing crimes against humanity and other atrocities committed during the conflict. Multilaterals and other governments should build support and lay out a framework for a hybrid tribunal, which would be seen as more credible for the prosecution of atrocity crimes, given the domestic dynamics relating to the crimes committed throughout Sudan’s history.

• Focus attention on external drivers of conflict (such as the flow of weapons into Sudan), which are sustaining the conflict. Support civil society organizations and media to collect and disseminate credible evidence of weapons transfers, naming and shaming involved parties. Engage civil society and activist networks in arms-exporting countries to amplify calls for an end to weapons sales to Sudan. This “door-to-door” strategy would increase grassroots pressure on political leaders in exporting states to curtail arms flows. 

• Leverage strategic messaging and commitments from international organizations, third-party states, and civil society to generate political will for a ceasefire. Showcase past examples of successful ceasefires and reframe ceasefire commitments as strengths rather than concessions. Engage external actors to publicly commit to the ceasefire agreement and to support its implementation through diplomatic backing and technical assistance.

Recommendations for Donors Supporting the WPS Agenda:

• • Treat Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) as a long-term commitment beyond one-time events. Genuine women’s participation cannot be achieved by sending delegates to Geneva alone; it must be built from the ground up through continued engagement and local ownership. Donors and Sudanese women’s organizations share responsibility for ensuring continuity, accountability, and strategic coordination. To that end:
    • Invest to strengthen grassroots organizational capacity and inclusion by investing in mentorship, training, and funding for women. This includes skill-building in negotiation, advocacy, and policy engagement. Women are not a homogenous group and should not be treated as such.
    • Ensure transparent, locally-led participant selection in any convenings to be inclusive. Current practices by international actors often prioritize individuals who are fluent in English, have travel documents, or are already part of elite circles. This excludes a broad pool of qualified Sudanese women, including young leaders, and creates barriers to entry, weakening representation.

• Emphasize the importance of early preparation for women’s participation in peace talks. This includes addressing gaps in representation, inclusivity, transparency, and ensuring prior consultations, research, documentation, and trust-building processes.

• • Facilitate consensus-building among women stakeholders before negotiations to strengthen legitimacy, alignment, and mutual accountability. Ensure a continuous flow of information back to communities, including those not directly participating. Special efforts should be made to elevate voices from remote and underserved regions.
  • Establish a formal coordination mechanism linking women involved across all tracks of any negotiation to promote coherence, alignment, and collective impact.
  • Support consultation platforms engaging formal women’s organizations, and women from the general public, who have views but lack an organizational affiliation. Recognition and support should extend to all contributors to peace processes, not only those physically present in negotiation rooms.

For Advancing Justice and Accountability

Recommendations to International Donors:

• Urgently fund efforts to bolster rule of law and people-centered justice in Sudan, with a focus on the reconstruction of critical legal infrastructure. The widespread destruction of Sudan’s legal infrastructure – including courts, evidence labs, police stations, and more – is devastating to the ability to respond to everyday justice needs and collect evidence for longer-term cases. Donors should support efforts to rebuild critical infrastructure and establish systems, such as court digitalization, that will be more resilient in the context of civil war. This effort will also reduce the likelihood of people taking the law into their own hands, which can lead to retributive violence and grievances. 
• Provide funding and programs to build the capacity of all relevant actors – including lawyers, police, legal aid providers, judges, prosecutors, and legal NGOs – to advance everyday justice and transitional justice. Huge legal needs exist at every level within Sudan. Training and technical support should begin now, including in areas related to proper documentation (including secure documentation), evidence collection, building cases for atrocity crimes, identifying and understanding possible legal venues (international and domestic) and how to access them, and traditional justice options. Rural courts are particularly in need of support. Specific efforts should be made to capacitate legal actors and communities around transitional justice, building on the existing draft law. Women’s organizations’ participation in these efforts is critical.
• Support reform of Sudan’s legal system and police force to ensure non-discrimination. Sudan’s legal system and police force must be rooted in the concepts of non-discrimination, gender equity, and rule of law, building on extensive past efforts by civil society, including by women leaders. 
• Support rights education for women, including a focus on rural and conflict-affected women to ensure they are aware of their legal rights, how to claim them, and how to seek justice when their rights are violated. Training should be tailored to the culture and needs of local women.
• To FCDO, dedicate funds for transitional justice. Given the UK’s colonial legacies in Sudan, its contributions to transitional justice efforts would be valuable and would also serve as a form of acknowledgement for the human rights violations of the past.

Recommendations for International Partners and Multilateral Allies:

• Elevate and echo messages from Sudanese organizations, particularly those that might create significant risk for Sudanese actors. Efforts to expose abuses and advance justice and accountability can be sensitive and even dangerous for Sudanese activists and organizations. International allies should work with Sudanese partners to identify ways in which they can support and, if possible, assume some risk so that these critical messages can still be shared. High-risk areas where support may be useful include topics such as arbitrary detention, targeting of human rights defenders/lawyers/doctors, and allegations of atrocities. Lawyers face unique risks when they take on cases relating to these types of crimes, and international allies should work to support cases, provide emergency assistance, and identify other ways to support legal service providers.
• Provide free, long-term access to secure documentation software. Human rights documentation platforms can be expensive to maintain and complicated to use, particularly in contexts with telecomm blackouts; however, many international INGOs and companies have proprietary systems designed to respond to these challenges. Wherever possible, allies should provide these systems and training on how to use them, free of charge, to local Sudanese organizations, and help local actors identify other tools and tactics for safe documentation.

Recommendations for Authorities in Sudan:

• Depoliticize and reform the judiciary system, addressing all aspects of staffing, language, and decision-making. Judges’ appointments should be based on qualifications only and not linked to political affiliation. Reform should build on past efforts. New judges should be appointed to the constitutional court, with at least five of them being women. The tenure of the current court has ended, and new judges have not yet been put into place. 

• Recognize the need for, and advance reparation for victims and survivors. The government of Sudan, as part of future transitional justice efforts, should establish a reparations fund and process in a way that enables the international community to contribute. Women should be part of the design and decision-making bodies for this fund. Reparations should be holistic and not limited only to monetary payments, but broadened to include education, healthcare, mental healthcare, and other service delivery. Reparations should also demonstrate a commitment to non-recurrence, which could be advanced in a range of ways, including through a recommitment to international human rights norms, for example, through ratification of CEDAW and other relevant international protocols that protect and advance women’s rights.  
• Refer crimes related to gender and violence against women to formal justice institutions. Traditional justice mechanisms can be biased against women and girls, and they should not be utilized in gender-related cases. 
• Strengthen the Cyber Crimes Law and ensure prosecution consistent with the spirit of the legislation. The law must be amended to ban hate speech explicitly. Further, it must cease to be used to stifle political debate and discourse.
• Support the utilization of traditional justice mechanisms for reconciliation and to resolve intercommunal tensions, where appropriate. Traditional justice has an important role to play in Sudanese society, in responding to everyday justice needs and in supporting social cohesion. 
• Investigate and address the detention and abuse of women. There is documented evidence of hundreds of women being detained, trafficked, and abducted in RSF areas. Hundreds of women in debilitated conditions have reappeared in newly liberated areas, including eastern Khartoum and White Nile. There are indications that their detention is tied to their ethnic identity. Their cases must be investigated and addressed.