Month: April 2022

KHARTOUM, Heavy clashes between rival groups in Sudan’s Darfur have left some 45 people killed, officials said, as tribal leaders reported that fighting persisted in the latest ethnic violence.

Fresh fighting broke out on Tuesday between the ethnic Africa Fallata people and an Arab tribe in villages outside Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, witnesses said.

“Fifteen people were killed in the fighting between the Fallata and Rizeigat tribes on Tuesday and 30 were killed on Wednesday,” the security committee of South Darfur state, a local government body, said in a statement.

Women and children were among those killed in the fighting, it added.

Tribal leaders from Fallata and the Rizeigat said separately that the fightings have continued.

A medical source also said that around 20 wounded, some critically, were taken to nearby hospitals.

One resident of South Darfur, Mohamed al-Fatteh, said fighting erupted after a member of the Arab tribe was killed.

Sudan’s western restive Darfur region was ravaged by a bitter a civil war that erupted in 2003.

The conflict pitted ethnic minority rebels who complained of discrimination against the Arab-dominated government of then-president Omar al-Bashir.

Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed, mainly recruited from Arab pastoralist tribes, who were blamed for atrocities including murder, rape, looting and burning villages.

The scorched-earth campaign left 300,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million, according to the United Nations.

The main conflict has subsided over the years, but the region remains awash with weapons and deadly clashes often erupt over access to pasture or water.

Last month, clashes broke out among herders and farmers in the rugged mountainous region of Jebel Moon in West Darfur, leaving at least 35 people killed.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of houses torched in several bouts of violence in Jebel Moon, as well as elsewhere in Darfur in recent months, the United Nations and medics say.

The violence has reflected a broader security breakdown in Darfur following last year’s military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, that derailed a transition to full civilian rule.

Source: Nam News Network

Cairo, Apr More than 90 people in an overcrowded boat drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, a prominent humanitarian group said, in the latest tragedy involving migrants departing from North Africa to seek a better life in Europe.

Doctors Without Borders said the migrants were on a vessel that left Libya last week. It was unclear exactly when the boat ran into trouble, said Juan Matias Gil, the group’s head of mission, AP reports.

The group, also known by its French acronym MSF, said an oil tanker rescued four migrants early Saturday in international waters. The survivors reported that they were on the boat along with about 100 other migrants, it said.

MSF said the tanker did not respond to its calls not to return the migrants to Libya, where “they will almost certainly face detention, abuse and ill-treatment.”

The group urged Italy and Malta to “assign a place of safety for the survivors before it is too late.” It also called for The European Union border protection agency Frontex and other EU agencies to reveal the details of the incident.

Migrants regularly attempt to cross the Mediterranean from the North African nation in a desperate attempt to reach European shores. The country has emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the oil-rich country’s lengthy borders with six nations. The migrants are then typically packed into ill-equipped rubber boats and set off on risky sea voyages.

Around 300 migrants died or were presumed dead along the Central Mediterranean route between Jan. 1 and March 28, according to International Organization for Migration. About 3,100 were intercepted and taken back to Libya.

Once back in Libya, the migrants are typically taken to government-run detention centers rife with abuse and ill-treatment.

In 2021, at least 32,425 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya. At least 1,553 are presumed to have drowned last year, according to IOM.

Investigators commissioned by the United Nations’ top human rights body found evidence of possible crimes against humanity committed in Libya against migrants detained in the country.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

The rationale for the participation of women in peace and development in Africa is undeniable. In fact, there is emerging evidence and increased recognition of how intergenerational women leaders are shaping the continent and promoting a culture of peace, particularly in fragile settings.

In the Sahel, a vast, semi-arid region spanning over 10 countries and serving as a border between North Africa and the tropical regions in the south, women play a pivotal role in the economy, making up nearly 80 percent of the Sahel’s agricultural workforce[1] as well as leading the informal sector. However, Sahelian women are often extremely marginalized.

Laws and policies that regulate formal institutions, as well as gender-related socio-cultural norms in the informal sector, continue to limit women’s power of self-determination in the economic and political scene. Socio-cultural factors hinder the equitable participation of women in leadership positions and positions of authority in their communities.

Women in the Sahel are often victims of discriminatory cultural practices and beliefs that further reinforce existing gender inequalities. They also frequently contend with gender-based violence at home, including forced marriages, physical and sexual violence or sexual exploitation.

Women are excluded from education and literacy, with their roles reduced or confined to domestic responsibilities. In Mali and Burkina Faso, it is estimated that one out of every three women has never attended school or attended for just one year.[2] The low numbers of women enrolled in secondary education, compared to men, further deepens the gender gap in higher levels of education. As a result, the proportion of women in decision-making roles remains severely limited.

These inequalities have further been compounded by natural and anthropogenic crises. Climate change, for instance, is a growing threat to farming activities with the loss of financial income, especially for women in the sector. Repeated shocks, including droughts and floods, have led to disruption of livelihoods.

For decades, the Sahel region has served as a battleground for surrounding conflicts and is currently afflicted by terrorism and violent extremism. Girls and young women are particularly hard hit in such crises. Pervasive violence has destroyed schools and made attendance unsafe, stripping adolescent girls of their basic rights and freedoms.

The situation has led to mass displacement — Central Sahel has recorded one of the fastest growing displacement crises, with almost 2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and 850,000 refugees fleeing across borders as they move from one conflict to another.[3]

In addition to the negative impact on health, livelihoods and food security, the region is now facing the additional challenge of COVID-19, which is placing pressure on already fragile health infrastructure and worsening the humanitarian emergency.

There is good news however, Sahelian women are forming groups and informal networks at local and national levels to increase their voice in national debates and create space for political participation. This resilience building in defiance of the conflict and political instability has been possible through an innovative 3-month project titled “Building an Inclusive Post COVID-19 Recovery, Crises Transitions and Governance Reforms in the Sahel and Côte d’Ivoire-Phase I”.

Implemented by the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) in partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and UNDP, this initiative works in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Cote d’Ivoire to advocate for responsible citizen-state relationships and increased participation in governance systems at the local and national levels.

Tapping into existing women’s networks, four National Women Coalitions (NWC), each represented by 30 leaders, were formed across the four countries to advocate for the inclusive participation of Sahelian women in political processes at all levels.

Women of all ages are coming together to bridge the intergenerational gap and collectively work towards tackling issues affecting their peace and security. 11 collaborative platforms were created by the NWCs to provide young women and girls with the opportunity to leverage the expertise and experiences of older women.

As one young woman from Niger emphasized: “I’ve worked alongside smart, older women fighters and I’m going to follow in their footsteps so that I can do what they do, if not more.” Marie Chitou, Niger

Bridging the intergenerational gap is fundamental to strategically engaging with younger generations, who make up approximately 60 percent of the total population across the continent. Young people are increasingly playing a larger role in their communities. Thus, a deliberate effort was made to ensure the 120 women leaders selected for the NWCs represented an intergenerational mix across urban and rural areas.

Reflecting on this strategy, Raaya Issoufou Nadia, a youth leader from Niger, “This is the first time I was being treated this well, there was no difference between us and the older women. I felt like I had my place in the process and that we (young and old alike) were of equal worth.”

Thanks to the project, over 120 women from the NWCs have been empowered with the relevant skills to successfully engage key stakeholders, including state actors and traditional and community authorities, to secure commitments for women’s inclusion in governance structures.

Collaborative platforms between NWCs and community women’s groups have also contributed to amplifying their voices in governance, peace and security discourse. Building on this momentum, phase 2 of the UNDP-WANEP-ECOWAS project was launched in November 2021 to consolidate on the gains from phase 1.

A key initiative of this new phase is the introduction of the Women Influencers Portal (WIP), which will allow the Women Coalitions to assess and evaluate their work and track progress on women, peace and security (WPS) reporting in line with the Continental Results Framework (CRF) pillars. Phase 2 will also focus on broadening inclusive approaches to WPS planning, implementation and assessment by fostering collaborative platforms between state and non-state actors as well as strengthening systems for inclusive women’s psychosocial and economic recovery.

Intergenerational women leadership can be instrumental in sustaining peace in the Sahel. Despite the challenges faced in the region, women are increasingly showing determination and commitment to act towards enabling peace and protecting their communities.

Source: UN Development Programme