Giving Compass' Take:

• Jamille Bigio reports that the Sudan Taskforce on the Engagement of Women is working to get all major actors and local communities involved in creating an inclusive peace for the people of Sudan. 

• How can other groups replicate their efforts to bring everyone to the table and keep them talking? How will this approach impact the long-term success of Sudan? 

• Learn about the dangers of South Sudan for women. 

This interview is with members of the Sudan Taskforce on the Engagement of Women, which was formed in 2013 by Sudanese female civil society leaders and political party officials with support from Inclusive Security, to serve as a conduit between the peace process and communities throughout Sudan.

How have you influenced the peace negotiations?

We helped rally all of the key actors around the African Union roadmap, which is the framework for the process. At first, only the government had signed it; we encouraged the armed groups and opposition parties to sign it as well. When parties would walk out of the talks in Addis Ababa, we helped to bring them back in the room.

We also informed the roadmap itself. We advocated that it cover political and security issues in parallel, knowing that there will be no peace without a political solution.

We also recommended the inclusion of provisions on food security, protection for internally displaced persons and refugees, and the prevention of gender-based violence.

You travel around conflict-affected parts of the country to consult with the communities there. What has come out of this?

The peace process does not have much connection to the actual people on the ground. We are trying to change that, to help make sure that Sudanese people have a better sense of what is happening in the negotiations, and that the negotiators have a better sense of the priorities of the people living in the affected areas.

What do you hope will happen in the peace negotiations?

We also want to make sure that everyone has a seat at the table, and that means women too. There should be more women on the negotiating teams, and the African Union should include more women as mediators.

Read the full article about inclusive peace in Sudan by Jamille Bigio at Council on Foreign Relations.