Women's Forum
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From
Zeinab Osman Al-Hussain
Former President of the Sudanese Women's Forum (Cairo)
28
May 04
This
is to commend the humane call by the Christian Women's Conference
in Khartoum for the political commitment and the humanitarian appeal
they have timely issued. The CWC is giving a great hope for the
women of Sudan as well all the men who are concerned with the achievement
of a permanent and just peace in the next round of peace talks that
by all measures should be extended to include all Sudanese parties
as the Communiqué clearly indicates. In many occasions colleague
Arab and Muslim women in the Jazeera T.V. and other media addressed
the cause of the Arab Muslim women without mention of the grave
concerns of the Sudanese women in the South, Eastern or Western
Sudan where populations of the non-Muslim non-Arab women suffer
more than the others the disaster of civil war. The CWC stress on
the need to encourage forgiveness and love inter-faith activities
is highly appreciated in a country like the Sudan, which enjoys
the presence of many religions and cultures. Let us hope Muslim
women groups adopt the same stand of the CWC as a new approach to
promote the status of women within the cause of peace, democracy,
and the rule of law. Let us deeply appreciate the CWC strong solidarity
with the people of Darfur whose women must be allowed to participate
in the government fact finding committee and all the other political
and humanitarian effort to help the victims of the janjaweed-government
attacks. The women raped and the children tortured in Darfur need
to be handled by women activists who understand their situation
and culture. Here and in other situations, the men controlling all
activities must give way to the women, not only as nurses or physicians,
but equally as political leaders and economic planners to effectively
assist our sisters and their families and whole communities.
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COMMUNIQUE
FROM THE CHRISTIAN WOMEN CONFERENCE
7th
May 2004 - KHARTOUM
We, the Sudanese
Christian Women, met here in the 4th National Christian Women Conference
on post-war Southern Sudan under the theme "Let us rebuild"
(Neh. 2:17-18) from 4th to 7th May 2004, here in Khartoum. Acknowledging
that the war has caused complete breakdown of cultural and traditional
set up of all communities, and victimized mainly children and women.
Mindful that
a peace agreement is eminent between the parties to the negotiations under
IGAD forum;
Aware that there are challenges following the signing of peace
agreement;
Recognizing the efforts and dedication of the parties to the negotiation
so far;
Convinced that, women have greater role in post-war Sudan;
Having exhaustively deliberated on issues of concern and the challenges
of post-war Sudan and guided by discussion on presentations during the
conference, we feel, "now is the time to make everything new"
as mandated by Revelation 21:5;
Therefore;
1. We urge the
parties (SPLM, GOS and mediators) to walk the last mile to peace and
to speedily reach an agreement which guarantees peace and justice for
all.
2. We affirm that the rule of law should be the basis of governance
in a post - war Sudan where transparency, openness, accountability and
equity are the order of government; and that these values should be
enshrined in a post-war constitution which takes stock of the diversities
of the Sudanese communities and guarantee the rights of all the Sudanese
people.
3. We urge the
church and the future post-war government to intensify South-South,
inter-faith and inter-denominational dialogue at all levels in order
to realize reconciliation, forgiveness and love.
4. We call upon
both the private and public sectors to ensure the full participation
of women in all their structures.
5. We call on the
church to stand firm in the prevention of corrupt practices.
6. We call on the
post-war government to prioritize the issue of children affected by
war with regard to their education and rights and to discourage discrimination
against people living with HIV/AIDS
7. We stand in
solidarity with the people of Darfur and urge the parties to the conflict
to resolve the conflict peacefully.
8. We call on the
post -war governments to work with the civil societies in the process
of reconciliation and forgiveness to ensure participation of women in
the private and public sectors of post-war Sudan.
In conclusion, we
reiterate our commitment to work for a just, peaceful and Godly Sudan.
Khartoum - On 7th May 2004
Doc: Communiqué 4th Conference.
8th, May 2004/gdd/
Jemera Rone
Sudan/Uganda researcher, Counsel
Human Rights Watch,
1630 Connecticut Ave NW, # 500, Washington, DC 20009
202-612-4328; Colin
Relihan, associate, 202-612-4347; reception
202-612-4321; fax 202-612-4333
email: ronej@hrw.org
Darfur page: http://hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=darfur
Sudan page: http://www.hrw.org/africa/sudan.php
Sudan, Oil, and Human Rights: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/sudan1103/
Sudan Maps: http://www.RightsMaps.com/html/sudmap1.html
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