Centering Sudanese Women on the Global Stage: DWAG at CSW70

April 6th, 2026

Darfur Women Action Group

Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG), led by President and Founder Ms.Niemat Ahmadi, made an impactful return to the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in March 2026. This event, held annually, brings together thousands of global leaders, policymakers, civil society organizations, and activists to advance gender equality and women’s rights worldwide. Since Sudan faces one of the world’s most devastating humanitarian and protection crises, with Sudanese women bearing the heaviest burden, DWAG’s participation at CSW70 was a critical representation.

DWAG’s Presence: Advocacy, Convening, and Strategic Engagement

DWAG’s participation at CSW70 was multi-layered, encompassing the many different aspects of Sudanese women’s struggles in the conflict. The week started with WAG hosting the event “Just Empowerment: Applying Holistic Justice for Women’s Protection and Empowerment.” It addressed amplifying Sudanese women’s leadership in fighting for justice, lived realities, and policy priorities. This event put forward a new Holistic Justice framework, a model that goes beyond legal processes to encompass protection, psychosocial support, physical justice, psychological and moral justice, economic empowerment, community restoration, and political participation for survivors. The event included real-life accounts, shared struggles, and insightful recommendations from speakers Behar Ali, Amel Ibrahim, Sadya Eisa Dahasb, Salwa Elsadik, Niemat Ahmadi, and Zeinab Eyega, women with decades of expertise and experience on these issues. The director of UN Women Sudan, Mr. Salvator Nkurunziza, delivered a remarkable keynote and commended DWAG delegates for organizing such an exceptional event and for keeping Sudanese women’s plight in the spotlight. 

Ms.Elsadik strongly emphasized that the protection of women is particularly important, but increasingly critical to have different protection mechanisms for women living with disabilities. Telling the story of a woman living with disability who was raped, but she couldn’t identify the perpetrator because she is blind, noting that if there were policies in place, she shouldn’t have been put in a group shelter that doesn’t address or support her needs as a vulnerable woman. She called for humanitarian organizations to strictly follow the policy, protocols, and safeguarding policies in dealing with such cases.

The presentations were profoundly moving, emphasizing the courage and leadership of both Sudanese and Kurdish included the forgotten plight of women living with disability and the unique struggle they face, which ompelled many among articipants the room and online to reach out to Ms. Ahmadi to reflect on the importance of the session, the topics, noting  DWAG’s dedication and expressing their readiness to support DWAG’s work in any way possible. For example, an offer from a practitioner to provide psychosocial support services, both through one-on-one and group counseling for Sudanese women affected by the conflict, reflects the importance of continuing to talk about all aspects of a humanitarian response.

Key advocacy meetings and Outcomes

DWAG CSW70 is uniquely powerful because it happened at a time when many women were unable to travel to the US to attend this event which means their absence but DWAG made it possible to host an online event that enabled women from Sudan, Iraq and other parts of the world to be online and puts civil society in the same building, sometimes the same room, with the people who shape global policy. DWAG made the most of that proximity. Over the course of the week, Ms.Ahmadi and the DWAG team engaged in a series of high-impact meetings that moved well beyond strong words and writing into concrete actions and defined next steps. 

DWAG coordinated a delegation of women leaders, including DWAG president, Ms. Niemat Ahmadi,  Ms.Salwa Elsadik of WADI, and Ms.Zeinab Eyega of Sauti Yetu, who met with policymakers from member states of the UN, including Denmark, the UK, and Swedish missions, and the UK special envoy for WPS: Her Royal Highness Sophie, the Duchess of  Edinburgh. The Duchess and her envoy have committed to amplifying the voices of women and advocating for effective participation in decision-making, including in the peace and justice process.

A cornerstone of the week was a conversation with UN Women’s Deputy Executive Director Madame Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda and her team. Ms. Ahmadi, Ms. Elsadik, and Ms. Eyega raised some of the concerns, including the exclusion of women in the humanitarian space: the disconnect between large funding mechanisms and the frontline women-led organizations actually delivering lifesaving services. DWAG delegation emphasized that, despite being the first and often only responders in their communities, grassroots actors are routinely locked out from funding resources by systematic barriers, which range from the inability to present a pristine application to the often unfair selection processes of these grants. UN Women acknowledged these structural challenges and expressed a strong interest in deepening collaboration with DWAG. UN Women also invited DWAG to participate in a joint high-level event with the African Union, where Ms.Ahmadi made the case that stronger AU leadership is crucial at this stage.

At the Denmark Mission, Ms.Ahmadi and Ms.Elsadik met with Senior Policy Advisors Katherine Kjær Sørensen and Carla Galea, DWAG shared urgent updates from the ground, mass atrocities in Darfur, the scale of sexual violence, the collapse of essential services, while driving home the point again: Sudanese women are not only the most impacted, they are the primary responders. The meeting also surfaced a deeply troubling development in the past year of funding cuts, which have forced women-led organizations to suspend critical services, including survivor support and human rights documentation, at the exact moment when the need is most acute. The Denmark Mission was engaged and eager to maintain the dialogue, and DWAG is following up on opportunities to connect with Danish partners working on the ground in Sudan.

At the UK Mission, DWAG’s delegation met with Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh to share firsthand insights on what women in Sudan are living through. Rather than a diplomatic exchange, the conversation turned to practical pathways, targeted funding, stronger inclusion of Sudanese women in humanitarian planning, and what meaningful UK support could actually look like on the ground.

Ms.Ahmadi also joined a high-level panel as a speaker, organized by the UN Women Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) event, “Accessing Justice and Promoting Accountability at the Frontlines,” a session that examined how rising authoritarianism and militarization are eroding the rights of women and girls, and whether the existing accountability mechanisms are up to the challenge. Her contribution drew from DWAG’s direct experience, touching upon the increasing threat and danger for Women Human Rights Defenders and the importance of making being a woman human rights defender attractive through the provision of protection and care, and opening up this space to future generations.

Rounding out the week were critical engagements with UN Secretary General representatives, Mr. Pekka Haavesto the UN personal envoy to Sudan. DWAG president expressed optimism, noting that Mr. Haavesto has an in-depth understanding of the context of Sudan stemming from his previous roles as EU commissioner during the early Darfur peace talks. And that he will make valuable contributions to the UN role in Sudan. Across all of these conversations, DWAG delegates carried a consistent and unrelenting message: calling for urgently opening humanitarian corridors,  civilian protection with emphasis on protection of women, holding perpetrators accountable, and that there must not be any negotiation of Sudan’s future without Sudanese women in the room.

Looking Ahead

The momentum generated at CSW70 presents important opportunities for follow-up and sustained engagement.

DWAG is now working to:

• Strengthen relationships with UN Women and partners on the proposed Sudan advisory board.
• Explore funding opportunities for sustaining DWAG signature peacebuilding dialogues like the Sudanese Women-centered peace and justice convening. 
• Engage with donor governments, including potential participation in upcoming donor conferences.
• Continue building partnerships to support Sudanese women on the ground.

DWAG delegation noted that DWAG participation came at a time when the organization and its partners are struggling to meet the needs of the affected communities. We underscore that the absence of the Sudanese women from these forums makes meeting those needs even more difficult. “Participating in the CSW70 is integral to DWAG’s mission and priority commitment of ensuring that the women of Sudan, Darfur, and other crisis situations have a strong voice on a global stage,” said Ms.Niemat Ahmadi, DWAG president. As DWAG continues this work, the message remains clear: meaningful progress in Sudan requires centering the voices, leadership, and expertise of Sudanese women.