From Grassroots to Peace Tables

In October 2024, Detcro, in partnership with GPPAC, launched a six-month project in the Abyei region, financially supported by the Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund's Rapid Response Window. The project aims to empower Ngok Dinka and Misseriya women as peacebuilders by supporting them with the tools and platforms to lead local and regional peace processes. 

Tracing Abyei’s Conflict and Paths to Peace

Strategically located between Sudan and South Sudan, the Abyei region has long been a flashpoint of conflict due to overlapping territorial claims. Despite the 2005 peace agreement granting Abyei special administrative status, tensions persist, with ongoing cycles of violence between local communities, including the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya, disrupting daily lives and destabilising the area. 

The roots of Abyei's ongoing conflict trace back to 2011 when the African Union (AU) initiated efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully through the Abyei Protocol. Despite numerous proposals, the region's complex political status remains unresolved. In 2022, a new economic cooperation proposal from the governments of Sudan and South Sudan offered hope by promoting the shared use of Abyei's resources. However, tensions escalated with renewed clashes between the Ngok Dink and the Twic Dinka, another Dinka sub-group from the South.  

Amid the unrest, the Ngok Dinka, with strong participation from women leaders, developed a peace plan in 2023 focusing on economic cooperation and shared resources, marking a significant shift toward breaking the cycle of violence. Yet, the eruption of conflict in Sudan in April 2023 stalled progress on the AU's proposal and worsened the security situation. 

Women at the Forefront of Peacebuilding

Women in Abyei bear the brunt of the violence. From facing threats of abduction to assuming the roles of heads of households amid instability, they navigate a life where every day brings new risks. Despite these challenges, Abyei’s local women have consistently emerged as critical actors in peacebuilding. 

For example, when a referendum on Abyei's future was blocked in 2013 due to political deadlock, Abyei's women and community members organised a self-driven vote, advocating for their wish to join South Sudan. In 2016, Abyei’s women established Amiet Peace Market, a grassroots initiative to foster cooperation between the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities.  Through efforts like these, they continue to unite divided communities, driving initiatives that promote reconciliation and resilience.

However, despite their widely recognised role as changemakers at a local level, the women of Abyei are typically restricted from contributing directly to national peace processes relating to the area's final status. Numerous obstacles prevent them from actively participating, including cultural norms, the prohibitive cost of attending negotiations in distant capitals, and the ongoing conflict in Abyei.

The Project: From Grassroots to Peace Tables

 This project aims to empower Ngok Dinka and Misseriya women as peacebuilders, providing them with tools and platforms to lead grassroots and regional peace initiatives in the contested Abyei region. By connecting local efforts to formal peace processes, the initiative addresses critical issues such as economic cooperation, resource sharing, and community security, paving the way for sustainable peace and resilience. The key objectives include: 

• Empowering women’s leadership in peacebuilding through training, dialogue facilitation, and collaboration with governance structures such as the Abyei Fund for Resilience and Development (AFFORD), a community trust that was established to promote cooperative enterprises among communities in and around Abyei. By strengthening their skills in conflict resolution, advocacy, and inclusive leadership, the initiative enables women to articulate their priorities and actively influence decision-making. Women from both groups engage in community and inter-community dialogues to develop joint positions and actionable strategies to address shared challenges. 
   
• Connecting grassroots women’s efforts to regional and formal peace processes – such as the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) and bilateral negotiations between National Committees on Abyei of Sudan and South Sudan – the project ensures women’s perspectives are integrated into leadership frameworks and governance systems by strengthening the communication channels. High-level advocacy activities, including diaspora outreach and strategic engagements, amplify women’s voices and influence in decision-making spaces. While not designed to resolve Abyei’s status immediately, the project lays the groundwork for inclusive, long-term peacebuilding and reinvigorates regional attention to Abyei’s contested status.

At the heart of this project is a community-driven peace plan developed in 2023 by the Ngok Dinka, prioritising collaboration with neighbouring communities such as the Misseriya. The Abyei Women’s Union (AWU) plays a pivotal role in advancing this plan, ensuring women’s needs and priorities are integral to the broader peace process.

Detcro facilitates this community-led peacebuilding by working closely with AWU, the Misseriya Peace Committee, and other local stakeholders. Through inclusive dialogues, training, and collaborative efforts, safe spaces are created for women to shape the peace agenda. In these spaces, women are not merely participants but leaders fostering resilience at the community level and driving long-term peace efforts. 

Women of Abyei: Catalyst for Change 

The women of Abyei are not merely survivors of conflict; they are innovators, leaders, and catalysts for change. By connecting grassroots women leaders’ perspectives and priorities to regional and formal peace processes, this project ensures their voices are integral to shaping the dialogue on Abyei’s future. As changemakers, these women are not only building bridges between divided communities but also fostering a legacy of resilience and empowerment for generations to come.

About the United Nations Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund Rapid Response Window

The WPHF Rapid Response Window for Women’s Participation in Peace Processes and the Implementation of Peace Agreements is a funding mechanism of the United Nations Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund that addresses urgent funding gaps with targeted, short-term support to increase women's participation in peace processes and the implementation of peace agreements.

Rapid Response Window is a flexible financing tool supporting quality interventions to enhance the capacity of local women to prevent conflict, respond to crises and emergencies and seize key peacebuilding opportunities.