Dozens of Darfur residents complete UN-backed human rights training

More than two dozen women, sheikhs and local community representatives in Sudan’s North Darfur region today completed United Nations-backed training on human rights and gender-based violence.

The two-day workshop, organized by the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) and the Justice and Confidence Centre of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), was held in the Zam Zam camp for internally displaced people near El Fasher – one of the largest displacement camps in the country.

The UN expects the training to decrease the number of human rights and gender-based violence incidents and to assist victims in gaining proper treatment.

“Our hope is that participants convey this knowledge to others in their community,” said Zahiril Islam, a human rights officer with UNAMID.

Topics covered included the importance of seeking medical help and the steps a victim must take to properly report a violation to the local authorities, early compulsory marriage and child protection.

Both trainers and participants expressed hope that the event would build better cooperation between them.

UNAMID was established in 2007 to try to quell the violence in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million have been forced from their homes since fighting erupted in 2003, pitting rebels against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen.