Bana Group for Peace and Development is a voluntary feminist non-governmental organisation founded in January 2017. We understand ourselves rather as a network of activists than an organisation, and we work on a consensus basis. Our members are from and based in various regions of Sudan, mostly marginalised communities: North Darfur, West Darfur, South Darfur, South Kordofan, West Kordofan, Blue Nile State, Red Sea State, El-Gezira State, White Nile State, Northern State, Khartoum State.
United as Bana Group, we remain characterized by diversity: We are from various social, economic and ethnic backgrounds, allowing our work to really address the needs and specific environments in the different regions of Sudan. As a grassroots civil society organisation, we connect different civil society initiatives from within Sudan and across borders – including the Sudanese diaspora. We believe that marginalized women don’t need to be represented by others, but they have the right to speak for themselves.
Currently, our work focuses on the empowerment of women – political, economic and social – through various feminist projects designed and implemented by the women members in our network.
Bana Group for Peace and Development started with a group of women coming together in 2017 in workshops about non-violence, digital security and problem analysis. We directly applied the gained knowledge by starting initiatives within our respective communities. Based on this experience, we decided jointly to form a group in the initial workshop “Point of Transformation” which was conducted in El-Geneina. The very beginning of our joint work as a group of activists was the research project Voices of the Margins which brought us again to learn and listen to each other despite our differences.
We seek to create an environment that supports women. We seek to rebuild and develop communities and revive peace values within them by linking war-affected communities in Sudan with each other.
Our mission
- Spreading the concepts and values of peace
- Working towards transitional justice for all
- Supporting the democratic change in the country
- Supporting women’s existence in the economic and political spheres and ensuring their participation in the peace processes and politics
- Respecting diversity and spreading the culture of respecting others
- Supporting women to express and speak up for themselves
- Creating spaces to form feminist networks and foster solidarity among initiatives
