UUSC responds to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan

Background and ongoing impacts

The situation in Darfur, Sudan
The genocidal war in Sudan's western Darfur region has raged for more than five years. Over 300,000 Darfurians have been killed, and over 2.5 million have been forced by the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed militia to flee their villages. While 250,000 Darfurians have sought refuge over the border in Chad, over 2 million people are living in internally displaced person (IDP) camps within Darfur itself. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that there are now 4 million people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

Hundreds of villages are being destroyed, wells are ruined, and there is desolation where crops once grew. The civilian population in Darfur is heavily reliant on humanitarian aid and protection to survive.

Although the United Nations Assistance Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) is now present on the ground, the mission still faces significant challenges in terms of resources and training. Despite signing the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement, the Sudanese government and the militias it supports have continued to attack villages in the Darfur region and hamper the delivery of humanitarian aid. 

Women and girls are particularly vulnerable
While thousands in Darfur have been killed and millions more displaced, women and girls remain particularly vulnerable. Rape and sexual violence have been used as weapons of war in Darfur, and women are attacked as a way to shame and destroy families and communities. The violence and subsequent displacement erodes women's support networks and their access to livelihoods, making it all the more difficult for them to survive.

Although international agencies in Darfur are working to protect civilians from violence, their strategies are often gender blind. They assume that a blanket strategy will respond to the needs of all civilians. However, women and girls in Darfur have specific protection needs that require specific measures.

For example, women often travel long distances away from their camps in order to find firewood so they can cook food for their families. Women also leave their camp to seek work to pay for the food, medicine, or fuel that they need to survive. In doing so, they become exposed to a high risk of attack and rape.

As the conflict continues, resources like trees and fields close to the camps become exhausted, forcing women to walk longer and longer distances, exposing them to ever-greater threats of attack. Refugee and IDP camps themselves have become increasingly dangerous, as they are infiltrated by Janjaweed militia members, rebel groups, and bandits. Humanitarian assistance within camps is scarce, and the distribution of aid is being hampered by the security situation.

UUSC's approach and ongoing work

Action must be taken now, even as the conflict continues
UUSC fully supports the development of a viable and inclusive peace process in Darfur that will lead to sustainable peace. At the same time, we are deeply concerned by the protection crisis facing Darfurian women and girls, who continue to use all of their resources to protect themselves and their families.

We believe it is imperative to find new and creative ways to protect women and girls from the violence that they face as they go about their daily lives. The protection of women and girls in Darfur cannot wait for an end to the war.

In Darfur, UUSC is working to weave a web of protection for women and girls in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP camps). Practical, straightforward measures can make a real difference to their security.

UUSC is working with our consultants and partners on the ground to:

• Implement viable income-generation projects for displaced women inside camps so that they have do not have to leave the camps to earn money to sustain their families;
• Work with women and agencies to identify and implement ways to reduce the need for firewood and, therefore, women's need to leave the camps to seek it;
• Rebuild women's centers in the camps and provide leadership and organizational training to women so that they can make their voices heard by camp leadership;
• Collaborate to provide human-rights and women's-rights training to individuals in various levels of authority in the camps so they understand the particular vulnerabilities of women and girls;
• Coordinate efforts among different agencies to improve protection for women leaving their camps to search for firewood and other resources.

Please consider supporting UUSC's vital work in Darfur by joining our Drumbeat for Darfur campaign or by making a donation today.

Donate to Darfur relief fund online or mail donations to:

Darfur Relief Fund
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
PO Box 845259,
Boston, MA 02284-5259

For additional reports on how rape and sexual violence are used as a weapon of war, please see:

Human Rights Watch
Refugees International
Amnesty International
International Rescue Committee
Medecins Sans Frontiers