Feminist Knowledge | Women's Organising

*Statement Delivered by Khadiga Khadiga Abu El Gassim Hag Hamed and Abuk Payiti, to the Oslo Donors' Conference on Sudan 2005 (12 April 2005)

Madam Chairperson, Your Excellency, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, Here we stand together as women from South and North united. On behalf of the Gender Symposium delegates, we would like to extend our gratitude to the Government of Norway, with special appreciation for the effort of Her Excellency, Ms. Hilda Johnson, for affording us the opportunity to present the priorities of our Symposium.

We would like to highlight the main points of the immediate and top priorities identified by the Symposium. We register special thanks to UNIFEM and NUPI as co-hosts as well as, NDI, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNHCR and IGAD for technical support towards this historic gender forum process.

We the women delegates of the Symposium do recommend the following minimum urgent priorities and actions for reconstruction during the interim period:

In regard to governance and rule of law:

•  Adhere to equal citizenship rights and obligations for women and men.

•  Immediate inclusion of at least 30% representation by women in the Constitution-making and review processes.

•  A minimum representation of 30% for women in decision-making positions at all levels, including transitional institutions and all commissions established under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

Under gender-based violence:

• Ensure the protection of women and girls in terms of safety from sexual and gender-based violence, especially in war-affected areas.
• Recognize the importance of HIV/AIDS in relation to human security and ensure adequate education and awareness-raising, prevention and treatment on HIV/AIDS.

Under capacity building and institutional development:

• Establish a Ministry of Women and Gender Equality will full resources, as provided for in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and create gender divisions in all other sectors.
• Establish a women's fund within the Multi-donor Trust Fund for women-specific programmes, and ensure a formal role for women's organizations in the management and disbursement of funds.
• Establish women's resource centres for refugees, internally displaced women and returnees at state, provincial and district levels.

Under economic policy and management:

• Formulate pro-poor economic policies and poverty eradication and wealth creation strategies that adequately address the needs and rights of women and girls.
• Ensure women's economic empowerment.
• Cancel debt and ensure that the benefits of such cancellation benefit women, children and communities.

Under livelihoods and productive sectors:

•  Provide appropriate knowledge, technology and support in women's efforts for food security and economic empowerment.

• Prioritize allocation of targeted programmes to support the reintegration of women associated with the war within the framework of DDR.

Under basic social services, for health:

• Provide access to safe drinking water.
• Support programmes to halt the spread of communicable diseases and other public health issues, including the impact of environmental degradation on health.
• Enforce and/or enact laws to eradicate all harmful traditional practices that have an impact on the health of women and girls.
• Provide free comprehensive reproductive health services in every state, with at least one maternity hospital, well equipped with facilities and at least one ambulance for emergency cases.
• Support and facilitate the introduction of mobile outreach clinics and establish community-based pharmacies, to be managed and owned by the communities.

And for education:

• Provide free and compulsory primary education to all girls and boys.
• Support reform of the education system, including curriculum, training, feeding programmes and improved school environment.
• Reduce gender disparities in education enrolment and drop-out rates for primary, secondary, tertiary and post-graduate levels, with priority given to war-affected and marginalized areas.
• Establish special education programmes and schools for children with disabilities.
• Promote and support accelerated adult education, adult literacy programmes and functional literacy that directly target women, particularly in South Sudan .
• Support multi-media information and communication strategies, especially radio services, for communities with high levels of illiteracy and limited access to communication infrastructure.

In conclusion, we call upon this donor conference to commit to principles of gender responsive resource allocation so that at least 80% of budgetary allocations and resource support to Sudan 's reconstruction meet at least three of the following criteria:

•  Combating HIV/AIDS and decreasing maternal mortality

•  Reducing gender inequalities in law, policy and practice;

•  Directly benefiting young people, especially girls, in disadvantaged communities;

•  Targeting rural areas.

Thank you for listening.

* This statement was circulated to the Feminist Studies Network via the GWS Africa listserve discussion group on 16 April 2005.