International IDEA supports community Dialogue Platforms in North Darfur

International IDEA attended the execution of the first regional dialogues "Resilience and strive for Democracy"  in North Darfur Largest IDPs' Camps at Al Fashir, North Darfur state, Sudan, on 16 December 2020, with the facilitation of our national implementing partner, Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO).

The targeted community was AbShok IDP camp, north of Al Fashir city in North Darfur state. The camp was established in 2004 with an average population of 130,000 people.

The participants were from different genders, age and social groups within the camp, 32 participants in total, (14 female and 18 male).

The dialogue topics included:                                                        

• Day 1: Accepting the other;
• Day 2: State governance and individual freedoms during the transitional period (the individual and the state); and
• Day 3: Constitutional negotiations and drafting processes.

The dialogue attended on 18 December 2020 was the third and last day session.

The dialogue was facilitated by a lawyer/activist that was closer to transitional justice in his knowledge rather to constitution.

Execution of the dialogue

A notable participatory approach was leading the dialogue, despite the varied levels of knowledge by participants with regards to the topic. No ready martials where presented, while the discussion was initiated by brainstorming exercise to come up with a list of questions that participants had to answer at the end of the session. The participants were divided into six groups and presented their answers to the questions in a short presentation and a Q&A segment.  

Participants sounded very interested and inspired by the matter of the constitution and its stand on matters of religion and the state.   The participants also engaged avidly over the issue of citizen participation to the constitution-making process.