The United Nations Association of Edinburgh in conjunction with the Darfur Training
Committee held a conference entitled "The Empowerment of Women in Darfur" Synopsis
by Liz Sim
1. On Monday January 26 2009 over 60 people assembled in Edinburgh City Chambers
for a Conference on ‘The Empowerment of Women in Darfur’. The Conference was co-sponsored
by UNA Edinburgh and the Darfur Training Committee (DTC). Participants included representatives
from a wide variety of NGOs; many - but not all of them - associated with human rights,
development, and women’s affairs. Darfurian women came from communities in Leeds,
Edinburgh, and Birmingham, and several had already participated in DTC training sessions.
Representatives were also present from two of the liberation movements (Justice and
Equality, Sudan Liberation Movement) and representatives of the Sudanese Government,
including the Deputy Ambassador. The conference was ably chaired by Malcolm Chisholm
MSP, President of DTC. Go to page 4
2..After a brief welcome from Malcolm Chisholm,
the morning session continued with addresses by Linda Fabiani MSP (Minister for External
Affairs) on the Scottish Government and aid policy. Dr Gari Donn JP (Convenor, UNA
Edinburgh and a specialist in international education issues) spoke on ‘Empowerment
of Women in the Developing World’. Then Dr Abdel Adam, Project Mananger of DTC, described
how the DTC works to train women from Darfur, and the problems faced by women in
Darfur. After a coffee break long enough to encourage some lively conversation and
interaction, participants divided into 4 groups, each with mixed membership, to discuss
some of the issues raised so far. Key features of these discussions were issues of
education - should girls and boys be treated equally when it comes to education?
Why do girls tend to drop out o f school? Questions like these highlighted cultural,
family and basic economic issues and contexts - for example, so much of the growing
of crops, fetching wood and water, etc depends on the womenfolk.
3. There was general
agreement that to empower women in society and the community needed to begin in the
home, with girl children being valued as much as boys, and progress to school so
that girls and boys could have the same opportunities for education through school
and beyond. Time and again education emerged as the key to nurturing the gifts and
abilities of girls and women. Discussion also ranged around how women in Darfuri
society could gain experience of leadership? Again, the starting point seemed to
be in running the home (sometimes of necessity if men were away from home), and then
in aspects of the local community. In the subsequent report-back session there was
both agreement on some common issues, and diversity of ideas and responses reflecting
the wide range of participants’ experiences and interests.
4. After a lunch break
which again afforded time and opportunity for interactions and conversations, the
afternoon session began with addresses from the Deputy Ambassador, representing the
government of Sudan, and from the two representatives of liberation movements. We
believe that this was a unique occasion and opportunity to bring together representatives
from these different political parties and perspectives, and not surprisingly there
was some lively discussion in the following groups. But before breaking out into
discussion groups we heard from Mariam Hassim, a remarkable lady who after training
with DTC, visited Darfur, worked with women in the camps and in villages, and began
a network of active and involved women which at the last count has 900 participants
- a truly remarkable achievement which bodes well for empowering more women in Darfur.
Unfortunately Mariam had to leave before the end of the conference, but everyone
agreed that she was the star of the day.
5. Inspired by Mariam’s talk, the afternoon groups tackled as a starter question:
what hinders finding a just resolution to the problems of Darfur, and what would
by women’s priorities? Discussion this time was even more lively. Each group again
came up with some similar and other varied ideas, but, generally, there was a degree
of criticism of the Darfuri government - perhaps that’s an occupational hazard of
governments. Discussions ranged in various directions - for instance, which is more
important, peace or justice? The consensus was that there must be some degree of
peace, even the ‘negative’ peace of stopping the fighting, before issues of justice
could be addressed. The necessity for all parties to a conflict having the courage
to listen to each other in a spirit of respect and dignity was also stressed in at
least one group. That may be a peculiarly women’s perspective, but it also linked
with the agreed understandings that peace cannot be achieved by military means, but
ultimately has to be through dialogue involving all parties, and while international
agents may be able to facilitate that dialogue, ultimately peace, reconciliation
and justice can only be achieved by and between the involved parties themselves.
And women not only must have a role here, they can also bring their own special gifts
of working together and across different communities. If there are many more like
Mariam, and they can also be empowered to bring their own special contributions into
society and debate at all levels, then surely there can be progress and a brighter
future for Darfur and its people.
6. Outline of the conference
The programme consisted of the following speakers and included 4 working discussion
groups.
Morning Topic: "The future role of women in the development of Darfur"
Speakers:
Linda Fabiani MSP, Minister for European and External Affairs, responsible for Scotland’s
aid to Darfur
Dr Gari Donn JP Edinburgh UNA and Edinburgh University
Dr. Abdel Adam Darfur Training Committee
Round Table Discussions then followed
Afternoon: "The Future of Darfur"
Speakers: The Deputy Sudanese Ambassador- Mr Mohamad Zaroug
Dr. Abdullah Eltom, Sudan Justice and Equality Movement
Ahmed Abbaker, Sudan Liberation Movement
Maryam Hassim, Darfur Training Committee
The conference concluded with reports from the working groups and a conference photograph.