Background UNDP supports the Women, Peace and Security Agenda through certain of its SDG localization programs. For example, N-Peace, or ‘Engage for Equality, Access, Community and Empowerment’ is a UNDP flagship initiative founded in 2010 to commemorate a decade of UNSCR 1325 implementation of the WPS agenda with the goal of increasing the role of women in conflict resolution and peace-building. Peace and stability are essential for development in Sudan. That makes them UNDP’s top priority. Our approach provides support on the national, state and local levels, combining efforts to address conflicts and their root causes. UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. UN Women is mandated to lead the UN system-wide coordination of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, as elaborated inter-alia through UN Security Council resolutions—1325, 1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122, 2242, 2467, and 2493. To this end, UN Women works with governments, UN partners, and civil society around the world to support women’s participation and influence at all levels of decision-making to prevent and resolve conflict, to protect their rights during and after conflicts and to ensure that their specific needs are addressed during repatriation, resettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction. UN Women and UNDP signed a Memorandum of Understanding at global level in 2018, committing to strengthen cooperation including in crises and fragile states. UNDP and UN Women are partnering in Sudan to address gaps in the gender responsiveness of conflict analysis as well as data accessible through the Crisis Risk Dashboard. UNDP and UN women both recognize the importance of joint analysis and effective strategic planning across the United Nations system in its long-term engagement in conflict-affected countries while underscoring the importance of inclusivity of women, youth and CSOs and peace centres as critical in all conflict resolution, prevention, and peacebuilding efforts. Context overview Political instability throughout Sudan continues following the military takeover of 25 October 2021 which brought an impasse to Sudan’s democratic transition that was ushered in by popular protests led largely by young people and women in 2019. While a political path out of the current crisis is being sought, local violence has risen in several of Sudan’s states in including South Kordofan and increasingly West Kordofan. Intercommunal conflict spurred by competition for natural resources and livelihoods remains frequent and incidents are often followed by disproportionate reprisal attacks. Such dynamics are evident for instance among Arab-identified Baggara of the Hawazmah clan and ethnic Nuba in the Kadugli area of South Kordofan. Conflict between the government and rebel forces has declined although the faction of the SPLM-North led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu has not signed the Juba Peace Agreement. However, the region continues to be affected by the legacy of a decade long civil war. The Sudanese economy is suffering from multiple shocks: inflation and prices for basic foods have reached historical highs. Women and young women have highlighted the cumulative impact of these negative trends: Insecurity related to the spread of small arms and light weapons in West and South Korodofan, the high number of militias and youth illegally carrying arms and recurring conflicts limit women’s mobility, restrict their access to markets and livelihoods. Inter-communal tensions fuelled by economic pressures and shrinking income opportunities place additional burdens on women who often care for orphans whose parents died during the war or support whole households where husbands were killed as a result of conflict. The economic deterioration exposes women to increased protection risks. Women and adolescent girls report being increasingly pushed towards unsafe livelihood activities exposing them to sexual exploitation and of transactional sex as a coping strategy. Data collected in South and West Kordofan suggests that violence against women/girls is more prevalent than violence against men/boys, although men have different roles as perpetrators, survivors and witnesses, and are less likely to report abuse. Proximity to armed forces camps was identified in both states as a factor of heightened risk. Particularly in West Kordofan, sexual assault and harassment were identified as contributing to tribal conflict. Intersectionality with racial and tribal dynamics was identified in both states as a factor that increases vulnerability. Overall reporting of cases of sexual and gender-based violence is low due to lack of awareness, the high degree of stigma and limited trust in institutions. Where cases are reported, traditional justice mechanisms (Joudia) are typically used, which are male dominated and influenced by patriarchal power structures. Intergenerational tension has reduced the moral authority of traditional leaders and native administrations. This is largely due to generational differences between traditional leaders and the young generation whose views are often based on practical considerations rather than traditional norms. As a consequence, conflict resolution capacity of traditional leaders and native administrations has been reduced. At the same time, women peacebuilders participation in conflict resolution continues to be limited by gender discrimination and women are almost entirely excluded from native administration. Harmful gender norms also impact men with militarized notions of manhood favouring a type of masculine identity in which frustration and deprivation can easily spill over into violence. The overall economic situation leaves particularly young men frequently unable to fulfil gendered roles as ‘provider’ and ‘protector’ of the household and young men are more likely to use violence to acquire economic goods regain a sense of control and power. At an institutional level, the pre-military takeover, transitional government had recognized the critical role of women in peace and security, including reference and respective provisions in the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) and endorsing the UNSC1325 National Action Plan (NAP) in 2020. However, with the prolonged political crisis and the absence of a legitimate government, implementation of the JPA and the NAP1325 and the National Plan on the Protection of Civilians are lagging behind as are efforts to develop state level peacebuilding plans while overall civic space has been shrinking. Rationale for Gender-Responsive Conflict analysis (GCA/GRCA) A deep understanding of context is essential for any peacebuilding interventions. Data on conflict, and in particular data on conflict from a gender lens, is currently weak to absent in Sudan. In addition, the response capacity from youth and women to emerging conflict is also weak. Similarly, while country-level Crisis Risk Dashboards (CRDs) are important sources of evidence to design programming, it has been challenging to include not just gender-disaggregated data, but indicators on the specific needs and vulnerabilities of women and girls that would help us design initiatives that respond to these needs. This is key to achieving gender-transformational results in crisis and fragile contexts. This project aims to address these significant gaps in gender-responsive data and analysis by investing in information on conflict and early warning that can inform strong gender transformational programming in crisis recovery and peacebuilding, as well as enhance conflict prevention and mediation techniques of community peace builders (such as insider mediators) so as to be able to immediately respond to signals of escalation of violent conflict. Despite Security Council Resolutions continued encouragement (S/RES/2282 (2016); S/RES/2467 (2019) ), the UN system still has capacity challenges in undertaking a conflict analysis with a gender lens. (SG Report on WPS, 2019). Many interventions aimed at facilitating WPS have approached women's inclusion through top-down approaches: influencing policy and lawmakers, empowering women to realize their economic potential, and introducing quotas for women's participation in peace agreements and political institutions. However, these approaches cannot always address the underlying structural causes of gender inequality. Furthermore, considering peace a top-level political or military process falls short of addressing the broader, nuanced issues faced by ordinary people affected by conflict in society. Through a comprehensive gender-responsive conflict analysis (GRCA), gendered paths to conflict as well as peace can be identified, understood, and addressed. Such analysis is essential according to UNSCR 1325 for a sustainable peace. The results from a gender responsive conflict analysis (GRCA) can be used as an evidence base not only to inform WPS prioritization and programming as part of the transitions process, and to feed into broader UNCT programs straddling the humanitarian-peace-development nexus.
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