Human Rights and Peace Workshop

A cross-party workshop to raise awareness and discuss the roles of various sectors of the community in building peace. Participants discussed collaboration between community and religous leaders as a key element of peace building in Sudan, amongst other issues.

Description

The aim of this workshop was to raise people's awareness around a number of topics such as human rights in peace agreements, and the most effective way of building peace in the Sudan. The Sudanese Studies Centre (SSC) invited many people from different groups within the Sudan, a doctor of psychology (to add comments on the Sudanese character and the most appropriate ways to reach the Sudanese people), many young people from different Universities, and even members of the Islamic party participated in the workshop. This level of participation was a major achievement, as these parties rarely share in such workshops. All the participants shared in the discussions effectively through their participation and its success was demonstrated by the large and diverse audience that was attracted.

Aims / Objectives

The aim of the workshop was to raise the awareness of variety of people about their rights and their role in peace.

It was clear from the large audience that the goals of the workshop were achieved. The audience freely discussed the history of the conflict in the Sudan, and how the education system played a role in the conflict in the South. They found that in education nothing is said about the role which southern people have had and continue to have to play in saving the Sudan; only northern people have been mentioned in history. Here the psychology doctor commented that this creates the sense of differentiation in the minds of southern people and through the years it has created a problem.

Also, they discussed with the Islamic party how a sense of peace has not been developed, despite this being an aim of Islam, and the others present requested the Islamic party share in the peace-building. The discussion was free, and all the participants spoke in a positive way about how to build one peace-building body. This led them to think of organising other workshops in different states.

How it is Articulated

The workshop targeted the educated people who are seen to have the most influence in the Sudan. There were many groups present at the workshop, including Elfeal Elthagafi, Ahfad University, SPLIM, and some Islamic party leaders. Each representative of these groups presented papers on their particular perspective towards peace-building, and these were then discussed. The papers of the SSC spoke about co-operation, overcoming tribal and religious differences, and focusing on collaborations between community and religious leaders to achieve specific goals. This will benefit the peace process in the Sudan because these are the most effective people in Sudanese society able to mobilise their communities for peace.

Achievements / Learning Points

The perspective of the SSC was well received, with a lot of comment and discussion. Because of this, they have suggested collaborating with another party to present the same workshop in Darfur, in order to reach more people. They have also learnt that co-operation with other groups helps to achieve your goals; and that collaboration within the community and with religious leaders provides the best opportunity to reach the community as a whole. With the support of community and religious leaders it is possible to build peace from a grassroots perspective; this is especially true in rural areas where people will not listen to a message unless it comes from someone connected to a community or a religious leader.

Geographical Area of Operation

Khartoum

Funding Resources

Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED)

Organisations Involved

• Islamic party;
• Sudanese Studies Centre;
• Ahfad University;
• Elfeal Elthagafi;
• Khartoum University;
• Southern Women; and
  
• National Television.