The Community Development Organization (CDO), a national NGO in South Darfur State, has recently launched a peace promotion program in the state.
South Darfur is one of the states controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Asaad El Tahir, the organization’s director, told Radio Tamazuj Wednesday that the drive aims to promote peace among local communities by empowering women and youth.
The project activities kicked off on Sunday and included several events, among them a three-day legal workshop. El Tahir said that the project aims to localize peace within the communities in South Darfur, which is considered one of the most densely populated states after Khartoum.
“It has a difficult history with tribal and civil conflicts, represented by historical and recurring conflicts among tribes,” he said.
El Tahir urged humanitarian aid agencies to keenly pay attention to the dire situation in South Darfur, adding that his organization’s project seeks to promote community peace so that local communities do not slide into comprehensive and catastrophic civil wars.
He confirmed that the project includes supporting, assisting, and financing nineteen local initiatives that include youth and women through peaceful coexistence and community programs.
“Among those local initiatives presented during this project is an initiative for youth to coexist between Rihaid Al Birdi and Tulus localities, which have witnessed significant civil conflicts between them,” he explained.
El Tahir explained that through the participatory education approach, the project organized a legal workshop that began on Sunday and lasted for four days.
“It involved volunteers and members of the popular court to activate their role in resolving civil disputes in the absence of judicial institutions,” El Tahir said.
Seif Ibrahim Harun, one of the workshop participants, said: “I have benefited a lot from the workshop. We learned about the basic steps for achieving justice, separating civil and criminal cases, and the stages of opening a case.”