UNAMID Gender Advisory Sector South, Nyala in Collaboration with

Ministry of Social Affairs

Workshop on

Reviving the State Committee for Combating Violence a against Women

Date: 20-21/6/2018

Venue: New Testament Hall

A report prepared by: Dr. Abulgassim Mohammed Gardia

University of Nyala

Introduction
 UNAMID Gender Advisory Sector South, Nyala in collaboration with Ministry of

Social Affairs held a two-day workshop, from 20 to 21 June 2018, in the New Testament

Hall, Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State. The workshop aimed at reviving the state

committee for eliminating violence against women. The committee is composed of a

number of government institutions and UN agencies headed by the minister of social

affairs in the state. The committee was established for combating violence against gender

and to present joined reports to the UN about the situation of human rights in the region.

The first session

The workshop was open by Mrs. Masarra Mosa, the rapportuer of the committee, and

then introduced Mrs Aisha Mosa Al –Sharief, the minister of social affairs. In her

welcoming statement, Mrs Al –Sharief noted the significance of giving women equal

partnership with men and full involvement in decisions making. She stressed on the

vulnerability of women to discrimination and violence in Sudanese community due to

male dominance of decision making. She emphasized the importance of finding ways for

elimination of violence against women and making use of what ever possible to prevent

women from all means of discrimination. She then highlighted the importance of the

workshop and noted that the conclusions and recommendations would assist in reviewing

the laws used to stop gender based violence. She also informed the participants a bout the

components and the issues of concern of the committee and noted the necessity of its

reviving.

After welcoming remarks, Dr. Dhahawi Salih Ali, the reprehensive of UNAMID gender

advisory unit, comment on the minister’s speech and moderated the session for more

discussion. The situation of women and the violence against woman in the Sudanese
community was the central issue of the discussion. Many participants acknowledged the

significance of raising awareness among the community; by helping them better

understand the religious texts and laws concerned with human rights.

Mrs. Masarra Mosa, the rapportuer of the committee, then highlighted the achievements

and challenges facing the committee. Achievements are represented in establishment a

number of units for elimination of gender based violence, of which:

1- Unit for combating violence a against woman

2- Unit for child and family prevention

3- The center for peace and women development

Challenges identified:

1- The committee is suffering from lack of permanent fund which may restrict its

activities. .

2- Establishment of permanent venue to the committee.

3- The restriction of UN fund to gender issues and giving no attention to other issues

such as economic empowerment of women.

In his part, Hassab Al-Kareem Ahmend Mohammed, the programs coordinator, gave a

through explanation of the roles of each of the two partners of the committee, could be

summarized in the following points:

The roles of government side:

1- Facilitation of humanitarian accesses.

2- Implementation of the activities.

3- Preparation of joined reports together with the UN agencies.

4- Facilitation of surveys and studies on the situation of human right in the region.
UN agencies side:

1- Provide financial and technical support.

2- Provide capacity building programs to the committee members and the

community.

3- Monitor and inform the government a bout the reported cases of violence.

The second session:

After welcoming remarks, Dr. Dhahawi Salih Ali, the reprehensive of UNAMID gender

advisory unit, presented a lecture on the UN agencies definition of violence. He also

talked about types of violence, pointing to their representation in the Sudanese

community.

The participants discussed the issue and emphasized the significance of raising awareness

of the community about violence and persistent evaluation of the performance of the

committee to eliminate all means of violence in the community.

Mr. Imad al-Deen Bahr al-Deed, the lawyer and human rights activist, presented a lecture

on the legal considerations of violence. He highlighted the concept of gender based

violence in the local and international laws. Mr. Bahr confirmed the inclusiveness the

Sudanese laws since it guarantees all human rights and includes all the international

agreements ratified by Sudan. Throughout these presentations and discussions it is

acknowledged that gender based violence is still experienced in the Sudanese community.

There is a difference between the community behavior and laws concerned with gender

based violence. It is proved that the problem lies in the traditional and social believes of

the community rather than lack of laws governing the society. Therefore, the change of
social norms and believes about the acceptance of violence is identified as the key

priority in the work of the committee to put an end to all forms of violence in the region.

Recommendations

The participants called upon to:

1- Revive the media sector to inform the community about the committee and to

reach large parts of population.

2- Establish permanent venue to the committee.

3- Revive the awareness-raising programs to combat all forms of violence and

discrimination to a achieve equality in the society.

4- Provide regular training programs to the members of the committee.

5- Raise awareness a bout gender based violence and provide political and economic

empowerment programs for women.

6- Develop a collaborative work with the leaders of local community.

7- Establish data base to document the efforts and share information.