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Un Women presentation

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Social Cohesion for Sudan: Importance and Practical Actions

Why It's Important:

Peace and Stability: Social cohesion fosters unity and reduces ethnic, political, and regional tensions, essential for long-term peace and stability.

Inclusive Development: Strengthening social bonds ensures all communities, including marginalized groups, are part of the national recovery and development processes.

Crisis Prevention: A cohesive society is less likely to experience violent conflict, as trust and mutual understanding are built across diverse groups.

National Identity: Promotes a shared sense of identity, allowing Sudanese people to move beyond divisions and work towards common national goals.

How to Leverage Social Cohesion:

Empowering Local Leaders: Support community leaders, especially women and youth, as peacebuilders and advocates for dialogue.

Inclusive Dialogue Platforms: Facilitate cross-community dialogues, involving different groups (ethnic, political, religious), to address grievances and promote understanding.

Promote Cultural Exchange: Organize events and initiatives that celebrate Sudan's diversity and foster mutual respect.

Practical Actions:

Strengthen Local Peace Committees: Build and empower local peace committees to mediate disputes, especially in conflict-affected regions.

Capacity Building for Peacebuilding: Provide training for community members and local authorities in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and leadership skills.

Reconciliation Programs: Implement reconciliation initiatives at the grassroots level, focusing on both victims and perpetrators, to heal wounds from past conflicts.

Support for Transitional Justice Mechanisms: Promote accountability through transitional justice efforts to address past injustices, ensuring fairness and healing.

Engage in National Dialogue: Ensure that civil society, including marginalized groups like women and youth, have a seat at the table during national peace and constitution-building processes.

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Why Women Are Central to Our Interventions

Catalysts of Community Resilience: In times of crisis, women hold families and communities together. Their leadership in informal networks, care systems, and grassroots peacebuilding makes them key to recovery and resilience.

First Responders and Peacebuilders: Women are often the first to respond to violence and displacement — whether by creating safe spaces, organizing aid, or mediating local conflicts. Recognizing their agency strengthens protection and social cohesion.

Essential to Inclusive Recovery: Without women’s participation, peace processes and development solutions are incomplete. Evidence shows that peace agreements and recovery plans are more sustainable when women are meaningfully involved.

From Survivors to Leaders: Our programming shifts the narrative — women are not only GBV survivors; they are entrepreneurs, human rights defenders, educators, and negotiators. They must lead the change they seek.

Agents of Social Norm Change: Women and girls play a pivotal role in challenging harmful norms, shifting power dynamics, and promoting justice in their communities — especially when empowered through education, voice, and economic opportunity.

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High-Level Advocacy & Coordination

Leverage UN leadership, donors, and Member States to advocate for humanitarian and development access, and to push for harmonized operational conditions across both zones.

Learning from Similar Contexts

Commission or contribute to comparative analysis from Yemen, and Libya, to understand how development actors operate across divided control lines.

Facilitate a Joint Learning Forum

Organize a multi-agency forum (UN, INGOs, CSOs) to share experiences on navigating access, risk, and delivery in fragmented governance contexts.

Document and disseminate good practices, especially from WPS/GBV actors working in hard-to-reach or politically sensitive areas.

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How WPS Pillars Contribute to Nexus Programming

1️⃣ Participation → Peacebuilding & Development

Empowers women to co-lead peace processes, recovery planning, and governance.

Enhances local ownership of humanitarian and recovery interventions.

Builds inclusive institutions and supports long-term stability.

2️⃣ Protection → Humanitarian & Development

Ensures GBV services in emergencies are linked to national protection systems.

Strengthens survivor access to justice and health services in both crisis and recovery phases.

Reinforces safety and dignity as a foundation for sustainable development.

3️⃣ Prevention → Peacebuilding & Development

Tackles root causes of conflict and gender-based violence.

Promotes legal and policy reform to reduce structural inequalities.

Builds community resilience and social cohesion to prevent relapse into crisis.

4️⃣ Relief & Recovery → Humanitarian–Development Link

Integrates women’s needs into early recovery and basic service delivery.

Links emergency response to economic empowerment and social reintegration.

Supports gender-responsive post-crisis planning and infrastructure rebuilding.

➕ Additional Enhancements to Nexus Programming

Embed WLOs and CSOs in all phases for localization.

Use joint gender-conflict analysis to guide programming.

Prioritize multi-sector, flexible funding aligned with HDP outcomes.

Promote inclusive local policy dialogues for accountability and reform.

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Local Policy Dialogue for GBV Prevention (Drawing from Blue Nile/PBF Experience)

Facilitated inclusive dialogue platforms with local authorities, police, service providers, and community leaders to discuss GBV trends and response gaps.

Supported traditional and religious leaders to issue public commitments to ban harmful practices and uphold women’s rights.

Engaged communities in developing community declarations against GBV, aligned with national frameworks.

Advocated for local authorities to endorse and enforce protective by-laws and protocols supporting GBV prevention and survivor services.

Promoted integration of GBV prevention in local development planning, security sector responses, and service delivery coordination.

Strengthened community-police dialogue to enhance trust and survivor-friendly referrals.

Encouraged women and youth participation in local governance forums addressing protection and gender equality.

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Monitoring Options for Donors & Partners in the Humanitarian Context in Sudan

1. Third-Party Monitoring (TPM)

Purpose: Ensure independent verification of project progress, quality of services, and beneficiary feedback in hard-to-reach or high-risk areas.

✅ Engage independent TPM firms or NGOs with strong knowledge of the humanitarian context and gender-sensitive approaches.

✅ Include spot checks, key informant interviews, and direct observation of services provided (e.g., safe spaces, dignity kits, GBV case management).

✅ TPM reports shared quarterly with for adaptive management.

2. Community-Based Monitoring (CBM)

Purpose: Promote local ownership and real-time feedback by empowering affected populations to monitor services.

🟣 Establish Community Feedback Committees composed of women, youth, and local leaders.

🟣 Use simplified community scorecards to assess service quality, availability, and accessibility (especially for safe spaces, referral systems, and trainings).

🟣 Build capacity of community monitors to report using mobile-based tools (see below).

3. Digital & Technology-Driven Monitoring

Purpose: Improve reach, efficiency, and real-time data collection in remote or insecure locations.

📱 Use mobile data collection tools like KoboToolbox, ODK, or CommCare with pre-coded gender-sensitive questionnaires.

🌐 Enable remote monitoring through:

SMS or WhatsApp surveys for GBV survivors (with confidentiality protocols).

Dashboards showing service uptake, kit distribution, and training attendance.

📍 Leverage geo-tagged photos and digital signatures to verify activity completion.

4. Partner Reporting & Capacity Building

Purpose: Strengthen local partners’ capacity for results-based reporting and accountability.

🔶 Standardized monthly reporting templates aligned with output indicators.

🔶 Training partners on:

Results-based M&E

GBV-safe data collection

Do-no-harm and survivor-centered approaches

5. Beneficiary Feedback Mechanisms

Purpose: Ensure accountability to affected populations (AAP) and allow for course correction.

☎️ Set up hotlines or SMS short codes for anonymous feedback.

🟢 Use complaints and response mechanisms linked to local service providers and referral networks.

6. Results Harvesting & Outcome Monitoring

Purpose: Capture stories of change, social norms shifts, and resilience outcomes.

🌟 Regular Most Significant Change (MSC) stories from GBV survivors and women cooperative members.

🧭 Use qualitative outcome harvesting to assess community behavior change, improved referral systems, and women’s economic recovery.

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Gadarif state

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Monitoring session – Democracy, Accountability, Political Participation

NIMD

·         Transparency – public calls

·         Use of networks – such as this

·         We are impartial but not neutral – we are for democracy

·         Modules and instructors are selected with politically sensitivity

·         Embassy is involved

·         Political scanning, PEA etc

·         Adaptive programing

OHCHR

·         Very sensitive issues.

·         Missions from outside and missions in-country.

·         Working to enhance in-country presence.

·         Access was problematic. Essence of the work is monitoring.

·         In SAF there is close follow up from SAF. In RSF we don’t have access.

·         In Chad staff were arrested. In Egypt they have no access.

·         Remote monitoring strategies. Reliance on open-sourced data. In Darfur there is the issue of accountability.

·         Background papers, PEA, mappings etc to inform programming.

·         Our interventions need to be tailored to the context. We have to be realistic.

PAX

·         War brought issues of politicization and ethnicity to the service of civil society.

·         Civil society also represents a narrow base – 30% urban population.

·         PAX starts from accepting that Sudanese are divided, and work with all.

·         Also, adding community structures and not only NGOs.

·         Using outcome harvesting. Partners are also trained on this. Certain reporting formats.

·         They do co-creation. Groups on whatsapp. It also provides updates.

·         Connectivity is a problem. We support them with Starlink.

·         This kind of interventions in this setting require time.

SUDO

·         Two states – White Nile, Blue Nile.

·         In Blue Nile, messages needed to be translated to local language.

·         Following the coup, we had to redesign the messages to avoid sensitivities.

·         Following the start of the war, we also redesigned the messages based on area.

·         Monitoring is normal. MEAL staff, community mobilizers. FGDs etc.

·         Even end evaluation, the external evaluator was able to visit all implementation areas.

·         Community volunteers and mobilizers play a critical role.

·         Community involvement was also key. Their ownership of results

CMI

·         CMI has an M&E department, also regional units. They are involved throughout since the design.

·         Register workshop outcomes.

·         Systematic reporting on the situation.

·         After three workshops with

·         Shifted design on regional players.

·         In informal tracks we don’t publish, to avoid sensitivities. Unless participants propose and agree.

·         Also, for security calculations for those coming from Sudan.

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Opportunity for humanitatian-development-peace nexus as umbrella for our strategy

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Take a co-created holistic HDP nexus assessment as a basis, identify leverage points to address needs (of communities but also for system transformation – asking why issues persist / reoccur) and create a simple practical matrix to see which leverage pathways are addressed by whom already, and identify the gaps strategically, use that as a basis for future projects. Such an approach does not need to take long or extensive data collection – it can be implemented within this group for experts within a two day interactive facilitated dialogue. This also naturally brings up unintended / unanticipated impacts of projects that go beyond planned outputs (e.g. social cohesion impact through agriculture / private sector work etc), encourages reflection on impact. This also gives direction to the challenge fund activities to fund leverage points that are more strategic than just looking at promising business opportunities – it’s all interconnected, reduces siloed perspectives, goes deeper into coherently addressing root causes and transformation. Sounds complex, but can be very practical to strategize

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Thursday 17 discussion

Concrete recommendations for follow up

·      Showcase nl private sector activities with other donors

·      And that development in Sudan is still possible (for instance prospects)

·      Continue / increase social cohesion, social contracts

·      Build on partner days, also with events in country. Perhaps also other donors?

·      Development Donor groups

·      Share more, also regional

·      WPS can contribute early recovery, accountability, Transition Justice

·      Find a way to connect 249 efficiently to other partners, map their partners for easy identification

·      Train youth to monitor projects. Empowerment and sustainability

·      Share contacts of all partners

·      Joint assessment in some some regions, targeted information sharing (per region), more general if useful, perhaps a database, to avoid email overload.

·      Keep on having (informal) meetings, in the field, with relevant partners

·      Kassala, link sparks, Prospects and perhaps others 247?

·      Cash based initiatives? With

·      Link ‘soft’  sectors with food security and food security sectors

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The Need to Boost Human Rights Defenders in Sudan in 2020 - Hassan Shire, DefendDefenders (Mar 2020)

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Wayamo Found_Dutch Partner Days Presentation

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DRA Sudan which funded by Dutch embassy has good model of localization where local organizations have been empowered, treating with equal shoulders and being part of fund allocation decision making members. I think this experiment need to be shared

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Reforming the social contract in Sudan

requires a comprehensive approach that

addresses political, economic, and social

aspects, and involves all segments of

society

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Enhance coordination between INGOs & NGO in this regard

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Linkages with the private sector and markets

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Need for much more engagement with ‘whoever is in charge’ in the different regions, but also internationally

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Engaging local NGos, refugees/IDP/Community led organizations and use of Community structures. Strengthening state government systems

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How to rebuild social contracts after the war?

What is a social contract?

Essentially, it's an agreement, real or hypothetical, that defines the relationship between citizens and their rulers. Or even between (groups of) citizens.

Key Concepts of the Social Contract:

·       Legitimacy of Authority:

The theory argues that the authority of the state is derived from the consent of the governed, making it legitimate.

·       Rights and Obligations:

The social contract defines the rights and responsibilities of both citizens and the government.

·       Explicit or Implicit Agreement:

While some interpretations suggest an explicit agreement (like a written constitution), others argue that consent can be implicit through participation in society.

·       Foundation of Civil Society:

The social contract provides a framework for the existence and functioning of a just and ordered society.

·      In Sudan there has been war, almost constantly

·      Hate speech and polarization is unrivaled

·      Colonial state, device, rule, extract

·      We don’t know each other, that’s where we start.

·      Necessity to have national discourse. Towards peaceful coexistence.

·      Rupture in social contract. Sudanese ar decided no constitution.identity issues. War has been there for decades.

·      War has polorised all structures. See ppl defected to other , ethnic bodies.

·

What can we do now?

·      Strengthening civil society

·      Grassroots level peacebuilding

·      Building democracy,

·      Promoting civic and democratic values

·      Documenting crimes in preparation for accountability and Transitional Justice

·      Mapping pastoralists’ migration routes?

·      Unified curriculum in schools. Has always been political tool. But can be a tool for one-ness.

·      Economic crisis.

·      Community dialogues. Narrative not dominated by one group.

·      SUDO rebuilding trust between people and state. Accountabilities decision making

·      Horizontal and vertical social cohesion

·      Gender budgeting. What Re the priorities? Creating joint priorities.

·      Documentation of war, what happened to people, preserve memories

·

What can we do after the war?

·      Depends very much on how conflict ends

·      Structural causes. Centre periferie, state and religion African, Arab? Acces to services, no RoL

·      TJ,  SST

·      Trauma healing

·      2005 the CPA was the most hopeful moment. Bill of rights, but not omplemented

·      Reconciliation process,

·      Need a leader to pave way. Who is the Nelson Mandela?

·      All of the above?

·      Supporting transitional Justice and the legal system

·      Civic education?

·      Media, yes, media that connects beyond the elites.

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Risk sharing needed for private sector that are willing to go over conflict lines. They provide important products for communities and other programming. -> access to basic services

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It would be interesting to come up with a system as RVO/OC has for the investees who upload their information, and get a dashboard in return with valuable information, but then geared towards Producer Associations, so they have an incentive to also provide input into a system. Perhaps in collaboration with VIAMO (downside probably high (license) cost, but upside, to be used by multiple actors), or another mechanism

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Synergies between various actors across various value chains and activities for impact

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How do we monitor in Sudan?

RTF:
Regular monitor is a routine. As staff not able to access to locations, using and empowering  local communities, using WhatsApp, voice message for persons who can travel from area to area. Need to be realistic and see what works on the ground.

Systemic monitoring by external for example. Sometime can be done with people who are already there.

Practical action:
Some in easy regions, some in hard to reach. For hard to reach: Involving key actors from target groups that can send some messages. Community reps. Have exp since 1992 in CBO and informing them to understand the projects and what they can check. HAC says it’s needed to included local person too. Receiving pictures and infor through Starlink.
Also have quarterly based meeting about this with ministeries.
Also some remote things like surveys.
Working in Blue nile and Darfur?
More than willing to offer contacts that could help. All on voluntary basis.
CBO (including participants), HAC and MEL team doing it.

Triangulation, government (ministery of Agriculture) , Community, digital, third party  and own formal processes.

249 Startups
Need to digitalise the MEAL. For insurrances, it’s very critical. Requester of service would take pictures of their store and the insurance will find a impartial person that will check, sometimes regularly,.
Engaing local agents.
Pictures could be linked to digital system. Need to store the data and then send when connected to starlink.
249 invested in a satellite company (Phoenix) that can do satellite monitoring. Also being adopted by these insurance. Need to design. Are cheap because getting subsidised. Covering entire Sudan. They buy the picture for the entire country, cut it and analyse it. SIPRA and other progs could use this too.
have a network of SMEs, and approach them for a way of exploring new opportunities, not as a police. Could use this network to check, even by others could give them gigs.
Airtable collect direct feedback from investees, surveys. Service providers also checks. And

VC4A & Airtable -> creating a long term incentive to have their own dashboard that they can use themselves. Beyond programme, to connect with investors, donors other partners. 500 euro – 5000 – 50k and then help to reach larger tickets. Make users/ investees see the valua of building a track record.

Mercycorps
Work with Viamo (phone based, and they analise), third party too, and own team’s formal process. Community accountability feedback mechanism. Crisis analytics is a Mercycorps arm that can verify too from afar.
Embassy and MFA could be connected

PROSPECTS
ILO: Also lots of info was lost. Implementing partners and govs. Min of Labour not paying employees because they lost the records. Not lack of money.
Using Implementing partners as eyes/ears on the ground.
Maybe considering a more unified approach and platforms that we could share between each other. Will also minimise double beneficiaries. Kobo platform also good. Need to have some =thing that integrate offline and online moments. Also to create the pipelines. Having this common platform becomes essential.Adding value at every stage.
Important

Marie:How to deal with GDPR? Must be fit for purpose. Up and downward accountability. And risks of hacking. Implementing partners, ILO and EU might have different needs and systems.  Letter of Understanding, NDA’s?

RVO tool can be a start to create an overview and impact of NL programmes.

What is working?

Launched a third party monitoring, Sudan Research LTD, Sudanese company able to travel in Sudan.

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Monitoring tools should be simplified, harmonized and also be useful for investees rather than just for donors (eg they should benefit from the data too, by getting graphs etc)

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When working to support refugees, it is important to equally support host communities and IDPs to avoid tensions. PROSPECTS is an example of a program where this is implemented.

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No parallel NGO structures; in and int cry need to push for common- push back- action

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Engagement with the central bank of Sudan to promote financial inclusion for refugees, inclusion of refugees and IDPs in national planning and social protection systems

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Trust of local communities, beneficiaries into implementing organizations is key. And building this trust takes time.

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A comprehensive transitional social cohesion package is needed.

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Joint missions, use of digital systems, community structures, third party and use of implementing partners MEL systems

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Increased need and opportunity for using digital applications for monitoring. Despite great opportunities, what are some of the risks? Connectivity is one, but what are others we should take into account?

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How to engage beneficiaries in monitoring, taking account the local power dynamics?

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White Nile and Kassala

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Issue of INGOs being increasingly pressured to register with SARHO. Working with the private sector in those areas to continue delivering services to people will be important.

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Interesting possible synergies between PROSPECTS and RDPP on the economic empowerment bit.

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PAX has two state level gender in conflict reports that are ready to be shared.

@Eltahir: do you want to upload them here?

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ILO targets Sudanese refugees in Egypt and Uganda in their skills development programs.

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PAX: There is a link between local peace building and private sector. They’re usually part of the local peace mechanisms, and usually among the most keen on stability for business.

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SIPRA Presentation (including hidden slides with full Theory of Change)

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There are different layers for engagement with authorities. Could also be looked at as an opportunity.

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Activities working on grassroot level like PAX, could coordinate with others on national level like OHCHR for advocacy on higher level and feed people priorities to higher level processes.

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Reversing the Flow is a great program implemented by SOS Sahel that works according to the Locally-Led Development principles. Shows the importance of localization and the potential of continuing our programming even in active conflict-affected areas.

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Please everyone write your thoughts on how private sector development programming is important for stability & security in Sudan (We welcome the input for our strategy)

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East/ North region

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East/ North region