The event, which brought together more than 500 participants including students, members of civil society organizations and academicians as well as local authorities and representatives from UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, provided an opportunity for the participants to discuss and share their views on the recent upsurge of inter-tribal conflict in Darfur and possible solutions, such as internal dialogue to address the root causes of the conflicts and bring about lasting peace.

During the debate, students underlined that the current economic problems, the competition for
power, the inequality and the politicization of ethnic identities were some of the factors that resulted in underdevelopment of infrastructures and competition over resources by different tribes.

At the end, the participants had the opportunity to vote if in their opinion the main cause of inter-tribal conflict in Darfur was identity or economy. The majority of them chose identity.

UNAMID organizes similar debates annually across Darfur universities to provide a platform for
students and academics to exchange their views on issues of concern.