Just one womanInternational Women's Day

Sudan

In rural Sudan a simple dispute over water or cattle can easily escalate into full scale tribal warfare. Yet war only makes worse the grinding poverty that people must struggle with every day.

It is women who bear the brunt of poverty, they must wake first to prepare food, walk miles to fetch water and do what they must to provide for their children. Women’s hands can be so disfigured through years of cracking and pounding nuts that they no longer have fingerprints. Peace would bring huge benefits to these women and their communties – they could farm land without fear of cattle raiding, health professionals could visit the area and provide much needed medical attention and markets could prosper, driving down the costs of basic essentials.

And yet it is often women who spur young men to battle, who traditionally have sang on the edge of battlefields calling for fighting prowess and further bloodshed. These women are called Hakamat, they have considerable influence in their community, and are believed to be able to both support fighters and to curse their opponents – because of this the women are provided for by the community.

The project we support is training these women to make goods they can sell at market, and to work together to grow food. Our local peacebuilder has helped these women to organise themselves into self managed co-operatives, so they can pool the tiny resources they have and share profits from handicrafts and farming. It is not only a lifeline out of poverty, it is an opportunity to show the women the benefits of peace, and to empower them to use their influence to mediate in disputes. Today their songs call not for war, but for peace and development.

With £64 I could buy raw materials for a women’s empowerment group in rural Sudan, so they could make handicrafts to sell, and support themselves. - Mariam, Sudan

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