III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 831 

Supporting the inclusion of the women of Sudan in United States efforts 

to end the conflict in Sudan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Mr. BOOKER) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the inclusion of the women of Sudan in United 

States efforts to end the conflict in Sudan. 

Whereas the women of Sudan have long led the fight for democracy in Sudan, including by establishing the Sudanese Women’s Union after Sudan won its independence; 

Whereas, following the end of the regime of Omar al-Bashir 

in April 2019, many Sudanese women mobilized and advocated for a civilian transitional government and secured 

progress such as the criminalization of female genital 

mutilation, the repeal of strict public order laws that governed the presence and attire of women in public spaces, 

and the codification of women’s rights in the transitional 

constitution; 

Whereas, despite making progress toward the meaningful inclusion of women in the political process, women in 


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•SRES 831 IS 

Sudan were largely left out of peace efforts and talks to 

transition to a civilian government; 

Whereas many Sudanese women led and participated in protests to hold their government accountable during the 

transitional period and against the overthrow of Sudan’s 

civilian transitional government by General Abdel Fattah 

al-Burhan, chair of the transitional Sovereign Council 

and head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and other members of the Transitional Military Council, including Rapid 

Support Forces commander Lieutenant General 

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti); 

Whereas, in response to the protests, military officials conducted a crackdown on peaceful protestors that included 

extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, torture, and 

the use of sexual- and gender-based violence to silence 

and oppress women; 

Whereas, despite calls for accountability by the women of 

Sudan and the international community, numerous perpetrators of human rights abuses in Sudan have never 

been brought to justice, including those who perpetrated 

violence under the Omar al-Bashir regime, during the 

protests to end the regime, and as part of the military 

junta that took power from the transitional government; 

Whereas the systemic oppression of protestors has facilitated 

democratic backsliding and perpetuated a culture of impunity in Sudan; 

Whereas, on April 15, 2023, war broke out in Sudan between 

the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed 

Forces, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties and 

a crisis for the future of democratic governance in Sudan; 


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Whereas Sudan is facing the world’s largest internal displacement crisis with more than 11,000,000 people internally 

displaced; 

Whereas Sudan is facing the world’s worst education crisis as 

more than 19,000,000 children, more than half of whom 

are girls, are out of school due to violence or displacement; 

Whereas Sudan is facing the world’s worst hunger crisis as 

more than 25,000,000 people, the majority of whom are 

women and children, are facing acute food insecurity due 

to the war; 

Whereas, as of March 2024 in Sudan, more than 1,000,000 

women who are pregnant or breastfeeding were facing 

acute malnutrition and more than 3,000,000 children 

were facing acute malnutrition, and the nutrition situation has since deteriorated sharply; 

Whereas the Famine Review Committee has determined that 

famine is taking place in Zamzam camp in North Darfur, 

which is home to more than 500,000 displaced people, 

and the Famine Early Warning Network warns that 

nearby areas, as well as other parts of the Darfur and 

Kordofan regions and the capital, Khartoum, also face a 

risk of famine; 

Whereas, globally, women are more likely to suffer during 

famines and go hungry in the face of food insecurity; 

Whereas the United Nations estimates that more than 

6,700,000 people in Sudan face risks of gender-based violence; 

Whereas, in October 2023, the Human Rights Council established an independent fact-finding mission for Sudan that 

found that instances of sexual exploitation, sexual slavVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Sep 20, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR831.IS SR831

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ery, and sexual abuse are occurring in Sudan, particularly in areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, in 

addition to torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence; 

Whereas instances of sexual violence in Sudan are primarily 

perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces as a tool to 

commit genocide; 

Whereas, since the war began, rates of domestic violence in 

Sudan have increased; 

Whereas hundreds of cases of rape have been reported during 

the war, resulting in one of the highest rates of rape during conflict ever reported; 

Whereas rape and other forms of gender-based violence are 

underreported, especially during armed conflict; 

Whereas Article 27 of the Geneva Convention (IV) relative to 

the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, done 

at Geneva August 12, 1949 (commonly referred to as the 

‘‘Fourth Geneva Convention’’), recognizes rape as a war 

crime in conflict settings; 

Whereas sexual violence is used in many conflict settings as 

a tool to humiliate, control, oppress, and defeat women 

and the communities to which they belong; 

Whereas approximately 80 percent of hospitals and medical 

centers are not operating in Sudan, resulting in unmet 

sexual and reproductive health needs in addition to a lack 

of essential medicine and other health services; 

Whereas more than half of internally displaced persons in 

Sudan are women and girls, and 88 percent of registered 

refugees fleeing the war are women and children; 


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Whereas ethnic minorities in Sudan are at increased risk of 

gender-based violence; 

Whereas women and girls fleeing the war have experienced 

gender-based violence in refugee camps and host communities; 

Whereas countries neighboring Sudan and elsewhere have 

hosted Sudanese refugees and worked to provide them 

with life-saving resources; 

Whereas, on February 26, 2024, the United States appointed 

a Special Envoy for Sudan to coordinate United States 

efforts to end the conflict in Sudan, secure unhindered 

humanitarian access, and support the Sudanese people as 

they seek to fulfill their aspirations for freedom, peace, 

and justice; 

Whereas there has been a more than 60 percent increase in 

the number of women and girls requiring gender-based 

violence recovery services since the start of the war; 

Whereas humanitarian assistance, including gender-responsive assistance, has been consistently blocked by warring 

factions from regions of Sudan impacted by the conflict; 

Whereas the Peace for Sudan Platform, which includes more 

than 49 women-led peace, humanitarian, and civil society 

organizations, has advocated for an end to the conflict 

and the protection of women and girls; 

Whereas hundreds of women peace activists from Sudan have 

called for an end to the conflict and for justice for victims of the conflict, including for survivors of genderbased violence, including through forums such as the 

United Nations Security Council, the Jeddah talks, and 

other internationally brokered ceasefire talks; 


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Whereas, in August 2024, the United States hosted peace 

talks in Switzerland and underscored the importance of 

the participation of women in conflict resolution, but the 

talks concluded without direct contact between the warring factions or a path forward to end the war; 

Whereas, during the talks in Switzerland, the United States, 

Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United Nations, the African Union, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, calling 

themselves the ‘‘Aligned for Advancing Lifesaving and 

Peace in Sudan Group’’, were able to secure commitments from the warring parties to expand humanitarian 

routes, but restrictions remain and ongoing hostilities 

continue to hinder access, including to famine-affected 

people in North Darfur; 

Whereas the United States and its partners and allies should 

continue to advocate for an urgent end to the war that 

restores Sudan’s path to democracy, holds perpetrators of 

the conflict to account, and prioritizes the leadership of 

Sudanese women; 

Whereas it is the policy of the United States to promote the 

inclusion of women in peace negotiations and to integrate 

gender considerations into the formation of United States 

foreign policy; and 

Whereas the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–68) requires training on the meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and resolution, 

and when women participate in conflict resolution and 

peace negotiations, peace plans are 35 percent more likely to endure: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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1 (1) recognizes that the women of Sudan are in2 strumental in ensuring a democratic and peaceful 

3 Sudan and must be included in negotiating and 

4 forming the future of their country; 

5 (2) commends the women of Sudan for their 

6 commitment to a civilian-led, democratic government 

7 and their efforts to end the war in Sudan; 

8 (3) reaffirms support for the inclusion and par9 ticipation of Sudanese women in all security-related 

10 discussions and peace negotiations to ensure a gen11 der-inclusive resolution to the war in Sudan; 

12 (4) notes with concern the ongoing lack of edu13 cation available for girls in Sudan and the long-term 

14 impact lack of education could have on the future of 

15 Sudan; 

16 (5) supports the empowerment of women’s or17 ganizations advocating for peace in Sudan and ef18 forts by the United States Special Envoy for Sudan, 

19 foreign governments, and multilateral institutions to 

20 document human rights abuses, including gender21 based violence; 

22 (6) urges additional resources for civil society 

23 organizations in Sudan working to document human 

24 rights abuses, including gender-based violence; 


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1 (7) urges additional humanitarian assistance, 

2 including for comprehensive gender-based violence 

3 prevention and response; 

4 (8) condemns the use of gender-based violence 

5 and rape as weapons of war; 

6 (9) calls on all countries to support the prosecu7 tion of actors involved in human rights abuses and 

8 violations, including gender-based violence, and to 

9 support an end to the culture of impunity in Sudan; 

10 (10) urges all parties involved in the conflict to 

11 allow for increased levels of humanitarian assistance 

12 to reach communities across Sudan through all pos13 sible modalities, particularly in Darfur, and for all 

14 countries to support increased levels of humanitarian 

15 assistance to Sudan, including through local Suda16 nese nongovernmental organizations; and 

17 (11) urges the implementation of an immediate 

18 ceasefire in Sudan by all parties and a commitment 

19 to include women from Sudan’s civil society in inter20 nationally brokered peace talks. 

Æ 


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