Complex realities and astute actors: Sudanese women's activism and UN Security Council Resolution 1325

Sudanese women activists do not use United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325 to claim rights. During my eight years of engagement with women’s activist from diverse backgrounds in the country I have hardly heard the resolution mentioned, except in the context of the Darfur conflict. It is understood narrowly by local actors to pertain to protection against gender-based violence, specifically sexual violence. In a Sudanese context, where the sitting president is facing an arrest order from the International Criminal Court for the systematic use of sexual violence in the Darfur conflict, needless to say the resolution is politicised and considered too “sensitive” to be dealt with. Nine years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended Africa’s longest running civil war, no national strategy exists in Sudan to implement Resolution 1325, because “there is no political will” to do so.