Bergsma, Silke (2026) Feminist Perspectives on UN Women's Gender Alert about the Sudan War. Bachelor thesis, Global Responsibility & Leadership (GRL).
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Abstract
In this thesis, a United Nations crisis report on the situation of women and girls in the ongoing civil war in Sudan, is put into perspective by analyzing it through two feminist lenses. The conflict in Sudan that has now been going on for more than three years, is affecting women and girls disproportionately in comparison to men, including a looming threat of sexual and gender-based violence. What is often referred to in the media as a conflict between armed forces, has turned into a war targeting and affecting millions of civilians, by harming them, killing them, and causing for them to be displaced nationally, as well as internationally. The violence and displacement negatively affects the people of Sudan on all levels, including food security, access to sanitary facilities, and the ability to access a justice system. After a brief explanation on the background of the conflict and the role that the UN has taken up in the conflict and the humanitarian aid responses, the specific report is analyzed. The report is analyzed on the grounds of a feminist humanitarian critique as well as a survivor-centered approach. By using key concepts from feminist humanitarian critiques such as, bestowing agency upon women, including women’s voices, and the inclusion of women as political actors and in decision-making processes, the thesis unfolds into a discussion where it shows that this critique is handled carefully in the document, but that ambiguity of concepts sometimes intervenes. Key concepts from survivor-centered approaches, in which survivors are centred as decision-makers, as well as careful attention to the discourse used in the document, show that UN Women is not clearly incorporating an approach that is focussed on survivors. The importance of the thesis lays in the perceived lack of media attention regarding the people of Sudan in combination with a need to stay critical and reflective about one of the biggest organisations whose discourse shapes the way the world perceives the conflict and its consequences.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Name supervisor: | Naumova, A. |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Jun 2026 11:50 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Jun 2026 11:50 |
| URI: | https://campus-fryslan.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/824 |
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