Towards Achieving the MDGs in Sudan: Centrality of Women’s Leadership and Gender Equality

Author/Editor(s): Compiled by Iselin L. Danbolt, Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda and Kari Karamè

For Sudan, and for the world at large, this is a crucial decade as the country implements the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in Nairobi on 9 January 2005. Comprehensive implementation depends on women's leadership; sustainable results depend on reducing gender inequality. The community-based reintegration efforts will primarily rest on women's shoulders.

This publication is a compilation made possible through the support for Sudanese women's advocacy actions by the Government of Norway, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), as well as the cooperation and support from women's organizations in Sudan. It is based on the UNIFEM experience in the Joint Assessment Mission for Sudan, and the Oslo Gender Symposium and Donors' Conference of 2005.

The publication is an effort to show how Sudanese women, in their diversity and spirit of unity, are defining the critical development agenda for the country in the coming decade. Furthermore, it is also an endeavor to provide a permanent record of some of the historic actions by Sudanese women on the agenda for peace and development, within the spirit of global partnership.