On 23 November, in the lead-up to the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai in the UAE, the Women’s International Peace Centre (WIPC) published an open letter calling on Emirati women leaders to highlight the devastating impacts of the Sudan war at the conference.  

The letter, which was signed by 33 women’s rights organisations and activists from Africa, Latin America and North America, described the relationship between the conflict and the heightened risks facing Sudanese women when it came to sexual violence, displacement and climate change.

“Publicly expressing your support for the women and girls in Sudan would send a strong message that this unfathomable violence is not justifiable, nor should be tolerated. In Sudan, as in other conflict situations around the world, the fight for peace, gender equality and climate justice are inextricably linked,” it stated. 

However, as COP28 drew to a close on Tuesday, the WIPC said there had not been any positive response to the plea. While issues of conflict and climate change arose at the conference, activists observed little focus on the situation in Sudan.

A South Sudanese woman carries a container of water from the Nile in the vicinity of the port of Renk, South Sudan, 14 May 2023. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Amell Pain)

“We have [tried] to speak to the UAE a number of times, as women activists. This is the second letter — we sent the first letter to the UAE when they assumed presidency at the [UN] Security Council … requesting a conversation in relation to the Sudan situation… Usually, we don’t receive any response,” said Hala Al-Karib, regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), which is one of the signatories of the open letter.

The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), rival factions of the military government of Sudan, began on 15 April. Since then, more than 10,000 people have been killed and nearly six million displaced in Sudan, according to the open letter.

“As the Sudan conflict enters its eighth month, atrocities reminiscent of genocidal crimes committed in Darfur twenty years ago and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war continue to be widespread. More than 4-million women and girls are now at risk of sexual violence in Sudan… Nearly 25-million people are in need of humanitarian aid; 13.6-million of which are children,” the letter stated. 

The RSF and its allied militias have been accused of war crimes, including ethnic cleansing and the rape and imprisonment of civilians, according to a report by Al Jazeera. The SAF’s air attacks on residential neighbourhoods where the RSF has strongholds have also been flagged as potential violations of humanitarian law. 

“This is beyond a war between two generals. This is a war against Sudanese civilians… Women and girls’ bodies have been used as weapons of war. Sudanese homes and businesses are under attack,” Al-Karib said.

UAE’s influence in Sudan 

According to the WIPC, the UAE has significant influence in the Sudan conflict due to its geopolitical standing and “close ties with key actors”. Speaking on the choice to publish the open letter in the lead-up to COP28, it said: “One of the principles of COP is the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Human rights are universal — you cannot be seen to be promoting a particular right and undermining others…  

Sudanese protesters in Tunis, Tunisia, display signs calling for the end of the war in Sudan on 3 May 2023. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Mohamed Messara)

“The UAE has a responsibility as a key stakeholder to stop the war and protect the rights of citizens, particularly women. It is only then that their aim of hosting the COP could be seen as a genuine promotion of human rights.” 

The UAE has been accused of providing supplies to the RSF during the war. According to a Reuters report, Sudanese General Yasser al-Atta has claimed the UAE funnelled these supplies through Uganda, the Central African Republic and Chad. 

“The UAE … threw its weight behind RSF. For them, to have one of the largest countries [in Africa] under its leverage — a country that has got tremendous agricultural resources … access to the Red Sea that determines trade … [and] is also a window into not just the Arab world but sub-Saharan Africa — is a massive opportunity and they are not going to let it pass,” said Abdullahi Boru Halakhe, a senior advocate for east and southern Africa at Refugees International.

Halakhe condemned the choice to host COP28 in Dubai given the alleged efforts of the UAE to support the RSF.

“That people are going to negotiate climate change [action] in Dubai … speaks to our moral depravity in the face of what is an egregious atrocity,” he said. “Climate is … a justice issue; it’s an equality issue … it’s a gender issue. It’s multidimensional, and in all those dimensions, it shows itself in Sudan. In all those dimensions, we are failing the Sudanese people.” 

The UAE has denied allegations that it has provided arms and ammunition to warring parties in Sudan. In a statement released in August, Afra Al Hameli, the director of strategic communications at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the UAE had called for de-escalation and a ceasefire since the onset of the conflict.

Smoke rises over the city during ongoing fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum, Sudan, on 19 April 2023. (Photo: EPA-EFE)

“The UAE has consistently supported the political process and efforts to achieve national consensus towards forming a government and will continue to support all efforts aimed at achieving security in Sudan and enhancing its stability and prosperity until a ceasefire is secured,” she said.

Read more in Daily Maverick: African mediators claim progress in efforts to end Sudan’s war  

The international community has not done enough to address the “distressing impacts” of the war in Sudan, according to the WIPC. The organisation called on world leaders to speak out against the ongoing human rights violations in the region. 

Greater role

Halakhe echoed this sentiment, saying the African Union and the US should play a greater role in condemning the war. 

“You cannot come out one day and say, ‘Our foreign policy is centred on human rights’, and then you see egregious human rights violations taking place and you look the other way… It not only emboldens these guys, it also erodes your standing,” he said.

“This is up there with … the top crises in the world. In terms of attention, not just from the West but also from the region, it is nearly absent.”

Al-Karib said that “enormous pressure” should be put on the UN Human Rights Council to pursue its independent fact-finding mission on the Sudan war with greater urgency. The council’s resolution to launch an investigative mission was adopted on 11 October, to collect evidence on abuses, gender-based violence and alleged war crimes. 

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an African regional body involved in mediation efforts for the war in Sudan, recently said it had secured a commitment from warring parties to implement a ceasefire and hold a meeting aimed at resolving the conflict, according to Al Jazeera. This is the latest of several attempts to bring an end to the war. DM