Fabrizia Falcione, UNFPA The country representative in Sudan briefed journalists in New York on a recent assessment based on 95 focus group discussions in 16 out of 18 states.
Speaking from Khartoum, she said, nearly 1,000 women girls participated and 76 percent of those aged 25 to 49 reported feeling unsafe “in displacement camps and sites, but also outside the camps: in markets, water points, firewood collection areas, streets and alleys.”
This was especially the case at night, when going to use toilets in camps.
“No matter where they are, they feel unsafe and it’s not about some incidents or some places,” he said.
Displacement, violence and danger in the dark
The conflict in Sudan has now entered its fourth year, with fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) showing no signs of stopping.
Ms. Falcione said most of the women she met during travels around the country – in the northern states, Khartoum as well as the White Nile and Blue Nile states – “lived for many months under shelling and active conflict.”
Many have been displaced multiple times “and all of them have faced extreme violence or been subjected to violence by their families and community members.”
Furthermore, “the path to safety is not really safe at all,” she said because women “continue to feel unsafe in areas of harassment, sexual violence, all kinds of physical violence, lack of food and water, and displacement, as I was saying.”
She described visiting displacement camps, where the majority of residents are women and children.
“Women, including pregnant women, have to walk in complete darkness inside the camps at night, trying to reach unlit toilets,” she said.
Additionally, cases of gender-based violence remain extremely difficult to report due to stigma, fear of retaliation, financial constraints, and distance from service providers.
what women want
Regarding what Sudanese women need most, Ms. Falcione said three quarters indicated that the main priority was economic empowerment and livelihoods, while her Mission confirmed that women wanted to return to their homes.
“They ask for three things,” he said. “Access to basic services and health; access to schools, especially for their children, and livelihood opportunities.”
She emphasized that Sudanese women “don’t want to eat well. They want opportunities, income generating activities, opportunities to be able to feed their families and their children.”
However, the issue is whether there will be enough financial support to meet the needs of women at a time when funding for the protection and health sectors currently stands at 14 percent and 11 percent respectively.
“We keep hearing over and over again that this is a security crisis that is particularly impacting women and girls, this is a health crisis, and yet the funding is not being followed – neither the definition nor the needs that are being identified,” she said.
Safe Spaces and Services
UNFPA manages 88 safe spaces for women and girls across Sudan where they “find the courage to speak out, talk about the violence they experience, seek help and receive the services they need most.”
However, lack of discovery makes it difficult to maintain operations.
Ms. Falcione shared the testimony of a girl who felt safe in these places because she got the chance to spend time with her friends, just like they did before the war.
“I think this is a very important message that the world needs to hear,” the veteran humanitarian said, urging the international community not to abandon the Sudanese people.
