Spirals of violence in Sudan

Despite the ongoing fighting, displacement, and flight in Sudan, a local network of approximately 100 women is working towards reconciliation, and peace. The Bana Group for Peace and Development, which was founded in 2018, is active in many parts of the country and in refugee camps beyond the country’s borders – and it is particularly committed to supporting women who are marginalized in multiple ways. A delegation of the women’s network is currently traveling through Germany to show the documentary “Forgotten Voices” and to inform the German public on the situation in the region.

Interview offer in Göttingen (March 21)

On Friday, March 21, four representatives of the Bana Group will be visiting Göttingen. We would like to invite press representatives to a discussion with the human rights activists. If you are interested in an interview, please contact Sarah Reinke (head of human rights work at the STP): +49 551 49906-13 or s.reinke@gfbv.de.

At the beginning of the war, in 2023, the office of the Bana Group in the capital Khartoum was destroyed, and the women were forced to flee. Nevertheless, the NGO managed to keep up its work. Bana Group supports local (female) activists, organizes workshops to counteract the increasing arming of the civilian population, and supports the organization of neighborly assistance. The women are also committed to combating hate propaganda on the Internet and to advising humanitarian organizations about access routes to people in need. Bana Group is a partner organization of the Society for threatened Peoples (STP) and Kurve Wustrow.

The war has had a devastating impact on the civilian population in Sudan. Approximately two thirds of the population (30.4 million people) are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. In total, 12.9 million people were forced to leave their homes – including 8.9 million internally displaced people. Since the beginning of March, fighting has resumed in various parts of the capital, Khartoum. In the first week of March, 40 civilians were wounded by gunfire. In another attack, on March 8, seven people were killed, including a child. On March 14, a total number of 20 civilians got killed in Khartoum. In other regions of the country – especially in Darfur, White Nile, and Kordofan – ethnically motivated violence and systematic violence against women and children have claimed thousands of lives as well.