WSF Meeting- Conflict in Sudan: Understanding its Disproportionate Impacts on Women, 8 April 2025

On 8 April 2025, the Women for a Sustainable Future (WSF) network convened online to discuss the ongoing conflict in Sudan and its disproportionate impacts on women.

The discussion was led by Sudanese women leaders and experts: Ms. Samia Ahmed Nihar (Head of Gender and Development Unit at the University of Khartoum), Ms. Samia El Hashmi (lawyer and co-founder of Mutawinat), Ms. Howida Abdelrahman Salih (Founder of Muzna Organization for Community Development), Ms. Ibtisam Aldoma Adam Ibrahim (supervisor at the Ministry of Education), and Ms. Asha Musa el-Said (former member of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan).

Participants included parliamentarians, former parliamentarians, senior diplomats, and experts from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye.

Discussions examined the humanitarian crisis in Sudan where collapsed healthcare systems, limited aid access, widespread gender-based violence, destroyed legal infrastructure, economic devastation, and disrupted education are disproportionately affecting women and children. The meeting highlighted how approximately 12.5 million people have been forcibly displaced, creating what the UN describes as the world's largest displacement crisis.

Participants called for coordinated international efforts to document human rights abuses, establish safe corridors for humanitarian aid, provide economic opportunities for women, and ensure women's meaningful participation in peace processes. The meeting emphasised how local women-led organisations continue to operate under extremely challenging circumstances and stressed the importance of cross-regional dialogue to address the crisis and support women's resilience in Sudan.