Darfuri People Discuss the Way Forward

On 9 February 2015, representatives from the community attend a DIDC workshop in Kabkabiya, North Darfur. Photo by Emadeldin Rijal, UNAMID.

12 Mar 2015

Darfuri People Discuss the Way Forward

By Emadeldin Rijal

As a means to harness collective responsibility in the move toward comprehensive peace in Darfur, people from across the region are participating in a series of workshops designed by UNAMID to support the Darfur Internal Dialogue and Consultations (DIDC) process.

These workshops, being held in various localities across Darfur, are community outreach and awareness campaigns designed to introduce the DIDC process to the local communities across Darfur. These workshops will be followed by locality-level dialogue and consultations, which, in turn, will lead to further consultation sessions as well as a meeting for Darfuris in Khartoum so as to involve members of the Darfuri diaspora.  Refugees are also included through targeted consultations.
 
DIDC, being an integral part of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) adopted in July 2011, focuses on harnessing the views of ordinary Darfuris to complement the Doha document. These outreach workshops are, therefore, intended to facilitate the integration of different communities through cultural projects and familiarization sessions thereby setting the stage for fruitful dialogue in the near future.
 
“The primary goal of the DIDC is to establish a sound foundation and create a firm pathway through which the people of Darfur can address their problems,” said Halima El Hassan, Coordinator, Civil Society Follow-up Mechanism, Habila locality, West Darfur, during a workshop held on 18 February 2015. “It is only through transparent dialogue that peaceful coexistence and sustainable peace among the people of Darfur can be achieved,” she added.

“It is envisaged that this process will enable grassroots participation and ownership of the DDPD, thereby giving it legitimacy and credibility,” explained Nicholas Shalita, Chief, Darfur Internal Dialogue and Consultations (DIDC), UNAMID.

In his remarks during the opening session of the launch of the DIDC implementation process held on 25 January 2015 in El Fasher, North Darfur, the head of the DIDC Implementation Committee, (DIC), Siddiq Abdalla (popularly referred to as Sadiq Wada’ah) stressed that an inclusive national dialogue is the best way for ending conflict in Darfur and can be an effective tool for addressing the needs for reconstruction and development in the region.

Meanwhile, he called for the active participation of all Darfuri communities in these workshops.  “I call on all the people of Darfur to engage in the dialogue in a credible and transparent way; I also call on internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees to be part of this process,” said Mr. Abdalla.

On her part, Zahra Mohammad, a member of the DIDC committee and head of the North Darfur Civil Society Follow up Mechanism, pointed out that dialogue promotes unity among all elements of Darfuri society.

These workshops have included members of Darfuri native administration, women, youth representatives, nomads, IDPs, refugees as well as members of civil society organizations.

During discussions in some localities such as Kabkabiya, North Darfur, and Zalingei, Central Darfur, participants identified a number of issues, such as proliferation of weapons, tribal conflicts, poor infrastructural services, poverty and deprivation, delay in justice mechanisms and the absence of the rule of law as some of the causes of unrest in Darfur.

These issues, inter alia, have been earmarked for discussion in the pan-Darfur level dialogue.