New Conflict Sensitivity Facility in Sudan

On 1 March 2021, Saferworld launched a new Conflict Sensitivity Facility (CSF) in Khartoum, Sudan with start-up funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The CSF will support both Sudanese and international organisations working in Sudan to understand how their work impacts on conflict dynamics and how they can ensure their activities avoid harm and contribute to long term peace.

The situation in Sudan is complex and it is difficult for any agency to understand fully the indirect effects of their work. As a result, aid programmes risk inadvertently making conflict worse if they are introducing resources into contested spaces without an understanding of what impact this will have. The CSF seeks to rectify this and connect aid workers to the context through the following functions:

• Analysis and knowledge: sharing and producing practical, relevant analysis in English and Sudanese Arabic, facilitating group reflection and collective analysis, and ensuring easy access to a large and growing body of resources online, including through the dual-language Knowledge Hub.
• Targeted support: working with aid organisations to develop their own approach to conflict sensitivity, helping them design systems, tools and policies for sustainable conflict sensitive practices. The CSF will also help with organisational or programmatic assessments, context and conflict sensitivity trainings, and mentoring.
• Convening and outreach: stimulating practical and inclusive discussions on priority issues and dilemmas, opening safe spaces for collective analysis sessions, and hosting public events that cross silos and amplify marginalised voices.
• Building a community of practice: introducing practitioner-focused concepts, amplifying Sudanese people’s voices and sharing learning from our activities to the wider aid community.

The CSF draws on Saferworld’s peacebuilding experience in Sudan and builds on the success of the Conflict Sensitivity Resource Facility in South Sudan. For organisations and individuals interested in signing up to regular updates on analysis, training opportunities and events, please visit CSF Sudan’s website here. You can also find the CSF on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.