 | | Citizen Activists in Kordofan Take Civic Education to the Streets - August 2008
Sudan's fragile peace continues to be threatened by the lack of accurate information on the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). In an effort to inform citizens of their rights under the CPA, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) supported a local civil society organization (CSO) to conduct public forums in the Misseriya areas of Southern Kordofan in the fall of 2007. Thousands of people gathered for 20 dialogue sessions held in town centers and at outdoor markets.
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| Market goers gather in the village of Siteb for a discussion on Sudan’s peace accord. |
 | | Engaging Religious Leaders To Combat Violence Against Women - August 2008
More than five years of armed conflict has led to a general breakdown of law and order in Darfur. Women - and girls in particular - are subjected to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) with alarming regularity. USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) supports the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its efforts to engage religious leaders in the fight against SGBV. The UNDP's Rule of Law Program recently organized a workshop for 56 imams from South Darfur State.
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| Religious leaders participate in a workshop on international law and Islam in Nyala, South Darfur. |
 | | Court in Darfur Convicts Two Government Soldiers of Child Rape - July 2008
Rape has become a common feature in Darfur, where more than five years of violent conflict has led to a general breakdown in law and order. As part of its effort to combat violence against women in Darfur, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) supports the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Legal Aid Network to promote access to justice - especially for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Through the Network, for example, two government soldiers who had raped two 14-year old girls outside of Nyala, South Darfur's capital, in March 2008 were stripped of their customary immunity under Sudanese law, successfully prosecuted in court, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and 10 lashes.
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| Darfurian women carrying out their daily household chores are often the victims of violence. |
 | | Supporting Health, Building Trust in Neglected Region - July 2008
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) recently helped Southern Kordofan State's main public hospital replace its stained mattresses, rusty surgery supply cabinets, electrical generator, and other basic equipment. Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, the Kadugli Hospital has been overwhelmed by the flood of returnees coming back to their homeland, and the miserable conditions at the hospital have become increasingly unacceptable. The USAID/OTI-funded upgrade helps counter growing disillusionment with the CPA's slowimplementation, which has been particularly palpable among communities in the former rebel-controlled Nuba Mountains - not far from Kadugli.
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| Nurses attend to patients in the newly refurbished in-patient ward at Kadugli Hospital. |
 | | Planting Seeds for Grassroots Development in Southern Kordofan - June 2008
USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) is supporting innovative efforts of Southern Kordofan’s state government to increase citizen engagement in ongoing development initiatives. The development and utilization of natural resources in the state, which traverses the former frontline of Sudan’s north-south civil war, has been stymied by decades of conflict and neglect. OTI is assisting local reformers to promote development that reflects the economic and social needs of the state’s citizens through training and community development centers.
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| Government officials attend a participatory planning course at Kadugli’s Community Development Center. |
 | | Airstrip Helps Development Take Flight in Southern Blue Nile - June 2008
USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) funded the rapid rehabilitation and extension of Kurmuk’s airstrip last month, enabling year-round access to one of Sudan’s most isolated and war-affected regions.
A lack of reliable access to Kurmuk has stymied economic growth and hindered efforts by the government and aid agencies to expand essential services in the area. Five weeks after OTI approved funding, the airstrip has been refurbished and planes have begun landing, delivering assistance and essential services.
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| A pilot’s-eye view of the newly rehabilitated airstrip in Kurmuk. |
 | | Training Offers Youths Alternatives to Cattle Raiding - June 2008
In an effort to enhance security in the Greater Upper Nile region, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) is providing assistance to establish six early warning monitoring posts where Dinka, Nuer, Jikany, and Murle tribal borders meet and violent clashes often occur. The recent use of automatic weapons is a new development in the age-old tradition of cattle raiding in the Greater Upper Nile. Each community will select representatives to staff the early warning monitoring posts and contact the local government when banditry or conflict occur or seem imminent.
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| Sudanese youth are building early warning posts, like this one in Thon, Jonglei State. |
 | | Water Douses Tensions in Abu Junuk - May 2008
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) moved quickly last month to stem an imminent large-scale outbreak of violence in Southern Kordofan by supporting the delivery of emergency water supplies to the town of Abu Junuk until the annual rains come. Tribal conflicts persist along Sudan's contested north-south border and threaten the successful implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which brought an end to two decades of civil war. During the dry season in particular, the movement of people and livestock can trigger violent clashes between pastoralists and farmers over the single most important resource in the region: water.
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| A tanker protected by local police brings emergency water supplies to Abu Junuk. |
 | | Shangil Tobay Youth Unite To Form Human Rights Club - May 2008
Armed youth help perpetuate the cycle of violence that has ravaged Darfur for the past six years. In Shangil Tobay, however, youth are raising their voices to denounce ongoing abuses and the culture of violence that has permeated the region.
Six youth from the North Darfur village recently founded the Shangil Tobay Human Rights Club following participation in a workshop funded by USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI). The club hosts meetings twice a week that bring youth from the village together with internally displaced youth living in the nearby camp of Shaddat.
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| Youth from Shangil Tobay gather at the club to celebrate International Human Rights Day. |
 | | Drilling Down Builds Up Marginalized Community - April 2008
USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) is strengthening the capacity of government authorities to address the needs and priorities of Sudan’s most marginalized communities. One project in Kurmuk County provided a drilling rig to tap aquifers and help counter the local sentiment that the county continues to be overlooked in the post-conflict transition. Historically neglected by the central government, the county has seen its infrastructure and basic service systems devastated by decades of civil war.
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| A woman pumps clean water from a well drilled in Kurmuk County with the USAID-funded rig.
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 | | Promoting Peace through Art and Culture - April 2008
USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) is supporting the efforts of Sudanese artists to contribute to the country’s post-conflict dialogue. One initiative engaged children in the capital of Khartoum in the dissemination of peace messages through artistic media. Nineteen professional artists worked with 60 school-age children to use art as a tool for promoting peaceful coexistence. The artists and children came from different ethnic and religious backgrounds and worked individually and collectively to create paintings and sculptures for an exhibit that showcased Sudan’s tremendous diversity.
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| Sudanese children display artwork from a peace messaging workshop in Khartoum. |
 | | Follow the Money: Concerned Citizens Track National Budget - March 2008
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) recently responded to civil society's calls for increased government transparency by supporting a series of small grants to equip human rights activists and select government officials with the skills needed to analyze the national budget.
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| "Dignity Counts: A guide to using budget analysis to advance human rights" was distributed with other handouts and resource materials in recent efforts to increase transparency in the budgetary process. |
 | | Local Leaders Transform Community Attitudes About SGBV - March 2008
As the conflict in Darfur moves into its sixth year, the society's coping mechanisms remain under intense strain. A culture of violence continues to permeate the region, and women and young girls are subjected to sexual abuse perpetrated by armed groups acting with impunity. Furthermore, incidences of domestic abuse and other forms of violence have escalated. As part of its effort to combat violence against women in Darfur, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) is supporting the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in its effort to raise community awareness.
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| Traditional leaders energetically take part in UNDP's sexual and gender-based violence workshop at El Fasher State University. |
| "Because of security concerns and laws restricting photography in Darfur, no photographs are available for this Success Story." | | Giving Victims Access to Justice - January 2008
Since the current crisis in Darfur began almost five years ago, millions
of civilians have been displaced from their homes and hundreds of
thousands have lost their lives. Human rights violations - including
rape and sexual abuse of women and girls - have been used as weapons of
war by all parties to the conflict. Because of poverty, cultural
restraints, and lack of confidence in the legal system, most of these
crimes go unreported, and when they are reported, the perpetrators are
rarely held accountable.
To address this injustice, USAID/OTI provided funding to enable the
region's human rights lawyers to take the cases of internally displaced
people (IDPs) and other affected civilians pro bono.
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 | | Training Empowers Parliamentarians To Build Peace - December 2007
In an effort to jumpstart implementation of the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA), USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) recently
provided parliamentarians from the States of Blue Nile and Southern
Kordofan with training to help them navigate the legislative process.
Prior to the training, many of the parliamentarians lacked the capacity
to carry out their legislative responsibilities, as most of them are
former soldiers with little formal education and no experience with
lawmaking.
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| Parliamentarians trained with USAID/OTI support are addressing the challenges facing Sudan at Southern Kordofan State’s recently rehabilitated legislative building. |
 | | Supporting a Model for IDP Community Mobilization in Khartoum - December 2007
As the north-south conflict unfolded in Sudan, displaced families from the south took refuge in squatter settlements and camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) on the outskirts of Khartoum. In these camps and settlements, IDPs have had little access to basic education and social services. Mothers in one camp came together to build a primary school, only to see it destroyed by heavy rains. OTI rebuilt the roof and provided other basic items the school lacked, including chairs, desks, books, notebooks, pencils, a generator, and a water pump.
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| A primary school for internally displaced children in Khartoum before and after USAID/OTI-supported renovations. |
 | | Artists' Network Addresses Sexual Violence in Darfur - December 2007
A network of 40 artists in North Darfur has initiated a project to leverage the use of traditional artistic media to address sensitive topics, including SGBV and harmful traditional practices. To increase the capacity of the artists to break the silence surrounding these issues, OTI provided the artists with training on a rights-based approach for addressing sexual violence. During the training, the artists developed paintings, drawings, songs, and dramas to explore these sensitive subjects.
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| An artist paints a work that promotes awareness of sexual violence. |
 | | Youth Use Forum Theatre To Promote Positive Change in Darfur - November 2007
Building upon the respected Darfurian tradition of employing theater to stimulate social change, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) recently supported the training of young actors in the method of interactive drama known as Forum Theatre. Professionals from a university in Khartoum traveled to South Darfur to train 27 youths in the performance style through which actors introduce a divisive scenario on stage and consult the audience to formulate a just outcome.
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| Darfurian youth stage a play on gender-based violence in the Forum Theatre style. The interactive method enlists the audience to suggest alternative responses to the situations depicted. |
 | | Nuer Peace Council Launches a Liaison Office in Juba - November 2007
Until recently, the Nuer Peace Council’s coordination efforts in Juba, like those of many local southern Sudanese institutions, were hampered by a lack of adequate office space and exorbitant rental costs. With support from USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives, however, the council now has its own office with a suitable working environment for its efforts to promote peace and reconciliation among southern Sudan’s diverse tribes.
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| The council’s staff prepares to move from a makeshift structure (inset) into their new office. |
 | | Activists Propose Revisions to Local Governance Law - November 2007
To encourage progress on the Government of Sudan's transition to democracy, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives supported a group of 35 civil society activists who have experience with legal reform and the legislative process to review and update the State of Khartoum’s local governance law. The law determines the administrative structure of the state, identifies the financial resources available to it, and defines electoral districts. The current governance law, adopted in 1998, has been used to weaken opposition and promote a narrow political agenda.
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| Front-page headline from a Sudanese newspaper report on key legal reforms proposed by civil society experts. |
 | | Supporting Legal Redress for Victims of Violence in Darfur - November 2007
With funding made available by the Secretary of State’s Initiative to Combat Violence Against Women, the UNDP program is building the capacity of legal professionals in Darfur, providing legal aid services to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and their families, and raising awareness of and changing attitudes about SGBV within communities and among the populace.
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| Paralegals in an IDP camp in Darfur receive training on addressing sexual and gender-based violence through a UNDP project. |
 | | Combating Forced Marriage through FM Radio Programming in Eastern Chad - October 2007
Through daring features, “She Speaks, She Listens” contributes to the improvement of women’s lives in the region. “She Speaks, She Listens,” on the air since 2005, is a weekly feature program created by Internews and funded by USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI). The program is breaking new ground in eastern Chad by regularly addressing on air sensitive topics related to violence against women. In a recent episode, two female reporters for the radio station broke the silence surrounding forced marriage and exposed the plight of women in eastern Chad – refugee and Chadian alike.
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| A reporter interviews a refugee woman in the Gaga Refugee Camp. |
 | | First Sudanese Independent Media Center Established - October 2007
Sudan’s independent media has a vital role to play in democratizing the CPA and making its relatively unpublicized contents known to the general public, and USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) has seized an opportunity to support the media in this role by assisting a small group of well-known journalists and scholars to open an independent media center in Khartoum – the first of its kind in Sudan.
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| Journalists committed to highlighting the needs of marginalized communities tour an IDP camp near Khartoum. |
 | | Center a Safe Haven for Youth and Women in Contested Darfur Town - October 2007
One way USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) aims to protect Darfur’s vulnerable and marginalized populations is through the empowerment of youth and women in neglected, rural communities. With that goal, OTI recently funded the rehabilitation of a dilapidated youth and women’s center in Finna. The town’s citizens came together to develop a unified vision for the center and to establish a committee to oversee its management. The center, now open daily, consists of two large buildings, as well as a library, storeroom, and shelter.
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| The rehabilitated center in Finna in the remote region of Jebel Marra, an area that has seen vicious fighting during the Darfur conflict. |
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Democracy Library and Book Forums Expand Public’s Horizons - September 2007
Although the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) laid the foundation for democratic transformation in Sudan, much of the public remains uncertain of its content. Many Sudanese are disillusioned by the country’s recent political history, while others, particularly young people, have known nothing beyond the current regime’s ideology. To enhance open access to resources on peace building, human rights, and civic education, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) recently funded the expansion of library collections housed in two of Khartoum’s cultural centers. Collectively, more than 1,000 books, journals, and magazines were purchased, together with audio-visual materials.
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| More than 1,000 new books and journals have been made available to the public in Khartoum. |
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| Health Facilities Increase Marginalized Population’s Confidence in Peace Agreement - September 2007
To support CPA implementation and peace, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) recently financed the construction of buildings for two health-care facilities in southern Blue Nile State. The Yabus Primary Health Care Unit received a permanent structure to replace its provisional one, and the community of Keili has benefited from an additional building, which has allowed its facility to be upgraded from a health-care unit to a full-fledged clinic.
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| A new building has allowed Keili’s health center to be upgraded to a Primary Health Care Clinic. |
 | | Promoting Sustainable Income-Generating Activities in Darfur - September 2007
Widespread displacement in the war-torn region of Darfur has disrupted traditional livelihoods and forced families to search for alternative sources of income. In 2006, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) launched an income-generating activities (IGA) initiative to provide national and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with tools to train Darfuris to identify and conduct IGAs that are safe and profitable. In one instance, a local NGO in Kas, South Darfur, taught IDP women how to make cheese once they had acquired basic business skills.
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| IDP women in Kas, South Darfur, learn to make cheese during a three-month income generation course. |
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Promising Darfurian NGO Given Voice at U.N. Human Rights Council - August 2007
Since July of 2006, the Darfur International Social Development Agency (DISA) has provided the United Nations with significant input on the human rights situation in territories under control of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA). To ensure that DISA could participate in the proceedings from an uncompromised position, USAID/OTI provided the organization with technical and financial support that enabled its representatives to travel to the June 2007 session in Geneva.
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| The Darfur International Social Development Agency presented an overview of the humanitarian challenges faced by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in Darfur. |
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Kauda’s Citizens Prioritize Education; Local Authorities Listen - August 2007
During Sudan’s decades-long civil war, children in Southern Kordofan, an area formerly controlled by the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement, had few educational opportunities. However, in 2002, as the peace process began to take hold, the residents of Kauda and local authorities founded the Kauda Primary School in a small, rudimentary structure to serve children in grades one through three, and established Southern Kordofan’s first teacher training facility – the Kauda Teacher Training College (KTTC) – the following year. USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) recently funded an extension of the elementary school and the renovation of a dining room and construction of permanent additions at the KTTC, including two rooms, a library, and a staff office.
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| The original Kauda Primary School (inset) was built by the community and extended by USAID/OTI. |
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Fight Against HIV/AIDS Coordinated from New Office Complex - August 2007
With funding from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) recently provided prefabricated offices for the newly established Southern Sudan AIDS Commission (SSAC). Prior to the receipt of the assistance, the commission was working out of a small, dilapidated building in Juba. The new office compound allows the SSAC to focus on its mandate of coordinating a multi-sector response to HIV/AIDS.
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| New office buildings enhance the Southern Sudan AIDS Commission's capacity to coordinate a multi-sector response to HIV/AIDS. |
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Aweil's New Legislative Assembly: The Best Building in Town - August 2007
USAID/OTI recently rehabilitated and extended the state legislative assembly chamber in Aweil after learning that government efforts to ensure the peaceful reintegration of large numbers of displaced people were being hindered by the lack of adequate facilities to conduct business. Parliamentarians meet there on a regular basis to discuss issues affecting Northern Bahr el Ghazal, review budgets, and plan the delivery of basic services such as education and health care.
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| The newly extended and rehabilitated state assembly building and legislative chamber for Northern Bahr el Ghazal. |
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Peace Circles Increase Cross-Cultural Understanding in Schools - August 2007
To strengthen the ability of various facets of civil society to advocate for the full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which guarantees freedom of association, a concept foreign to many youth in Sudan, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) has supported the creation of peace circles in 18 public high schools throughout greater Khartoum. The initiative provided 22 teachers with training on the CPA, conflict resolution, and human rights.
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| Peace circle students on their way to high school, where they lobbied for new uniforms. |
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Fuel-Efficient Stoves Lessen Women's Search for Firewood in Darfur - July 2007
With the Darfur conflict extending into its fourth year, more than two million internally displaced persons (IDPs) continue to live in crowded camps, surrounded by increasingly deforested environs. Around the Al Salaam camp in North Darfur, firewood needed for cooking has become so scarce that women often have to walk three hours to find it, and many have resorted to digging roots from the ground. USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) recently funded the introduction of fuel-efficient stoves to every household in the Al Salaam camp. The rocket stove costs just $3 to make and can reduce firewood consumption by up to 75 percent.
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| Women walking home with their "rocket" stoves after a training session. |
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Functional Offices Increase Government Capacity To Serve the Public - July 2007
More than two decades of civil war left South Sudan's infrastructure, including health facilities, schools, and government offices, in ruins. USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) recently stepped in with support for county offices in southern Sudan when it became clear that a lack of space, furniture, and supplies was hindering local government's ability to function effectively. A total of 22 counties received "government-in-a-box" (GIB) kits, 16 of which included prefabricated buildings.
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| This new building in South Sudan allows the County Commissioner to conduct government business - rain or shine. |
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Community Forums Resolve Conflict in Khartoum's IDP Camps - July 2007
The violence that periodically erupts in Khartoum's Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps reveals a need for enhanced negotiation and peace-building skills. USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) recently collaborated with a local NGO to train key community members in four camps and the surrounding area in methods for diffusing tension and effectively spreading messages of peaceful coexistence. Following a workshop on how to engage communities in constructive dialogue, participants formed networks to organize 15 public forums, bringing together more than 500 community members, including women and youth, religious leaders, and teachers.
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| Participants receive training on negotiation and peace building at a Khartoum-area IDP camp. |
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Rebuilding the University of Juba - June 2007
Founded after the country's first civil war in 1975, the University of Juba was the first university to be established in southern Sudan. During the ensuing years, the university became a powerful symbol of Sudanese unity and integration, as it brought students from every region of the country to study in Juba. However, in 1989, due to the deteriorating security situation in the south, the university was temporarily relocated to Khartoum, a move that was resisted by the citizens of Juba, who have been adamantly calling for its return since the signing of the Peace Accords in January 2005.
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| A professor interacts with students in the Juba lecture hall. |
 | | Equestrian Festival a Conduit for Peace Building in Darfur - May 2007
The conflict in Darfur has continued for nearly five years, and both Arab and non-Arab tribes have aligned with the government to fight opposition forces. The leaders of one Arab tribe, the Southern Rizeigat, have made a deliberate decision to remain neutral. To help the Southern Rizeigat maintain their nonaligned stance and serve as a model for others, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) provided support for the tribe's equestrian festival in Ad Du`ayn. Such festivals have historically provided a neutral setting where tribes could socialize, engage in friendly competitions, and discuss difficult issues.
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| The winner of a horse race at the USAID/OTI-supported equestrian festival in South Darfur celebrates among fellow Darfurians. |
 | | FM Radio Program in Eastern Chad Addresses Violence Against Women - March 2007
The unimaginable unfolds as a matter of daily life for many refugee and internally displaced women in Eastern Chad. In addition to surviving sexual and other violence perpetrated in Darfur and Eastern Chad, these women often are victimized by their own families. To promote healing among these women and raise awareness in their communities, USAID's partner, Internews Network, produces a daily radio show, "She Speaks, She Listens."
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| An Internews reporter interviews refugees in
Eastern Chad for radio broadcasts. |
 | | Promoting Peace and Human Rights on International Women's Day - March 2007
International Women's Day is commemorated annually on March 8 and offers an opportunity for people around the world to take positive action to protect and advance the rights of women. And the need for women's empowerment is particularly acute in Darfur, where women face assaults in the ongoing conflict by parties that use rape as a weapon of war.
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| Hakamat performers entertain at the International Women's Day festival in El Fasher. |
 | | Land Rights Awareness - A Step Toward Reducing Conflict in East Sudan - March 2007
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) partnered with a nongovernmental Sudanese civil society organization to organize a five-day workshop and training-of-trainers program focused on the CPA, ESPA, and conflict transformation skills applicable to land disputes.
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| USAID/OTI partnered with a local Sudanese NGO to train grassroots-level activists on the CPA and ESPA. |
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Providing Income-Generating Activities and Basic Public Services in Malakal - January 2007
Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile State, is one of many urban centers in southern Sudan suffering from an inability to meet the basic needs of its expanding populace. Sanitation is poor, clean water remains a luxury, and the threat of a cholera outbreak is high. Moreover, the city’s pre-existing clan militia activity in combination with the intensifying competition for scarce resources is increasing the potential for conflict and instability. In response, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) is providing support to improve sanitation systems in Malakal.
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| At a negotiation skills training workshop hosted by USAID/OTI, youth leaders came together to participate. |
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Engaging Youth with DPA and Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation - January 2007
The DPA provides for a process of reconciliation known as the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation (DDDC). The DDDC includes a conference that will bring together 1,000 representatives of the Darfurian people to articulate community needs and future plans within the DPA framework. Increased popular participation in the peace process through the DDDC will also build support for the DPA. USAID/OTI is helping to prepare Darfurian stakeholder groups to be effective participants and advocates at the DDDC conference.
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| At a negotiation skills training workshop hosted by USAID/OTI, youth leaders came together to participate. |
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Basketball Brings North and South Together During Peace Week - January 2007
The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January of 2005 ended more than twenty years of civil war in Sudan. To bolster the CPA, efforts continue to overcome the legacy of regional, religious and ethnic differences. One key element to continuing the peace momentum includes the dissemination of the CPA and increased opportunities for young people from the North and South to meet.
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| USAID/OTI's renovation of the Juba Youth Multiplex provided the venue for a North-South basketball game. |
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Supporting Youth Theater To Spread Messages of Peace - December 2006
Building upon the privileged position that young people in the IDP camps enjoy to address sensitive subjects with community leaders and other camp residents, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) is supporting youth activities in several South Darfur IDP camps to raise awareness about these issues. Through its in-kind grant mechanism, OTI is leveraging USAID/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance funding to support the creation of youth theater groups at a youth center in the Kalma IDP camp in South Darfur.
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| USAID/OTI works with youth in IDP camps in Sudan's volatile Darfur region to promote peace and human rights. |
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Supporting Democracy by Equipping Census Offices - December 2006
Under the directive of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Sudan will carry out its first-ever national population census in 2007. The success of the census will be critical to preparations for national and local elections. In southern Sudan, the responsibilities for organizing the census lay with the South Sudan Commission for Census, Statistics, and Evaluation (SSCCSE), but the challenges of planning for a census in a country the size of Sudan are staggering, considering the lack of human and financial resources.
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| Staff members at work in a census office equipped through a grant from USAID/OTI. |
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Providing clean drinking water to local communities in southern Sudan - December 2006
The influx of returnees during Sudan's dry season has increased tensions over scarce water resources in the former garrison town of Wau, the capital of Western Bahr el Ghazal State, South Sudan. The tensions have threatened to put in jeopardy the successful implementation of the recently-signed Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended twenty-one years of conflict between north and south Sudan.
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| USAID/OTI collaborates with the State Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Urban Construction in Wau town, South Sudan. |
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Mobile Drama Distributes Peace Messages to North-South Border States - December 2006
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) is delivering messages of peace to six states along the North-South border, which are rarely accessed by independent information, through the funding of 27 drama shows. Through a grant to a local NGO and in collaboration with community youth associations, implementing partner Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) carried out the activity in two phases.
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| USAID/OTI funds the production of 27 drama shows with messages of peace in six states along the North-South Sudanese border. |
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Radio Programming Addresses Violence Against Women in Eastern Chad - December 2006
Displaced women living in the camps of Darfur and Eastern Chad often face serious health problems due to complications during childbirth. The Chadian and Darfuri refugee journalists at the Radio Absoun in Iriba, Eastern Chad, which is funded by USAID through U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Initiative to Combat Violence Against Women, recognized the extent of the problem and addressed it in the Zaghawa, French, and Arabic languages in its weekly radio show, "To Your Health."
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| Radio Absoun journalism trainee interviews a Darfuri refugee in Iriba, Eastern Chad |
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Broadcasting oral summaries of the DPA in three local languages - November 2006
Though the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) was signed in May 2006, it remains largely inaccessible to the larger Darfurian population. The agreement has official Arabic and English translations, however, most Darfurians speak neither Arabic nor English, being more culturally tied to their local languages. Past experience has shown that local groups are more likely to identify with such political arrangements if they are available to them in their vernacular.
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| USAID/OTI funded oral summaries of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) to increase accessibility to the agreement and to garner popular support for its contents. |
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Teachers use CPA as inspiration to transform school curriculum - November 2006
Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in January 2005, provides a platform for protection that has inspired community-level activists to cry for change. One example of how the CPA has inspired change on a grassroots level is in the current elementary curriculum. Through its in-kind grant mechanism, OTI provided materials and covered transportation costs to allow 35 primary school teachers to attend a six-day training of trainers (ToT) workshop in Khartoum, Sudan. Workshop contents focused on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the CPA.
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| USAID/OTI partnered with a local NGO in Khartoum, Sudan to train grassroots-level activists on the CPA. |
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Supporting Higher Learning through Upper Nile University Rehabilitation - November 2006
OTI recently administered four in-kind grants to Upper Nile University in Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile State in southern Sudan, for the rehabilitation of the medical clinic, student center, water system and toilet blocks. Two thousand university students and faculty members will benefit from the rehabilitation work, while improved higher educational facilities will serve the community as a whole.
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| USAID/OTI rehabilitated the student center at Upper Nile University in Malakal in southern Sudan. |
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Combating Violence Against Women in Darfur through Gender Education - August 2006
As part of the $15 million initiative launched by the U.S. Secretary of State in 2005, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) is challenging the climate of impunity that surrounds violence against women in Darfur. USAID/OTI recently funded training for male and female leaders from various schools, civic bodies, and nongovernmental organizations in South and West Darfur.
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| Ninety civic leaders from the Darfur region and surrounding areas participated in USAID/OTI-funded training on conflict and development from a gender perspective. |
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The Comprehensive Peace Agreement: Making It a Reality - May 2006
The overarching goal of the USAID/OTI Sudan program is to strengthen Sudanese confidence and capacity to address the causes and consequences of political marginalization, violence, and instability within the context of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan.
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| Disseminators in lkotos await presentation of the CPA. |
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Integrating the 'White Army': A Delicate Process - April 2006
The Upper Nile region has been severely affected by internal divisions and an overwhelming level of arms in the hands of civilians. During the war, youth were loosely organized, creating an irregular 'civil defense' force, which came to be known as 'Jiec in Boor', literally, the White Army. The Lou Nuer ethnic group, in particular, has been profoundly divided and has had long-running conflicts with all of their neighbors.
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| Traditonal Murle Dance in Celebration of the Successful Conclusion of the Peace Meeting in Gurumuk. |
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Traditional Clothing Provides Protection
for Women and Adolescent Girls in Darfur - April 2006
As villages were razed and homes destroyed throughout Darfur, many women were forced to flee with only the clothing they were wearing. Moreover, as time elapsed in the IDP camps their clothing became more worn and threadbare. As a consequence, many women and girls unaccustomed to such immodesty resorted to conducting their chores and daily activities in IDP camps during the evening hours, under the cover of darkness. Beyond the humiliation, this practice exposed these women to greater risks of assault.
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| Tobes are prepared for distribution to the most vulnerable displaced women and girls in Darfur. |
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The Return of the Dinka Bor to Their Home - March 2006
For more than a decade, the pastoralist Bor Dinka IDPs have been residing in Equatoria on land temporarily provided to them by their agriculturalist hosts. In response to tensions between the IDPs and their hosts, OTI has provided several small grants over the past two years.
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| Cattle Camps Crossing Juba. |
