In commemoration of Women’s History Month, Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG) celebrated bold, brave and beautiful women from Darfur and around the world and their stories of resilience and exceptional leadership in the face of insurmountable challenges.
Throughout our “Bold, Brave, and Beautiful” campaign, we featured notable women along with their accomplishments. We will also be raising funds to support the establishment of our Women Empowering Women Centers in Sudan, which will serve as a safe space for survivors to gather, connect, and work together to form a grassroots movement for peace and equality for their country. We encourage you to consider supporting our cause by donating to support these centers that will allow Darfuri women to lead the charge towards peace and equality.
We asked our supporters to join us in celebrating International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month by sharing with us their own stories of resilience or that of other brave and bold women you know using the hashtag #BoldBraveBeautiful t0 highlight the stories of important female role models in their lives.
Women are not merely the future, but an integral part of the past and present of global social advancement. We call on our supporters to recognize, share and celebrate the vital role played by women in shaping our societies.
We have a voice and it must be heard.
Women Empowering Women Centers:
Unique in its scope and context, these centers will serve first and foremost as a safe space for female survivors to gather, share their stories, receive psycho-social support, and heal. The centers will provide access to capacity-building tools and resources that are desperately needed in order for women to respond to the needs of their communities. The WEW Center’s activities will provide women
with advocacy training, a network of other survivors, and a connection to the outside world that will allow them to develop a strategic feminist agenda that can be implemented and adopted by policymakers at local, regional, and national levels, giving women from historically-marginalized groups a voice in the ongoing constitution-building process in Sudan.
Help fund our Women Empowering Women Center in Sudan
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, showed leadership, strength and compassion in the face of enormous pressure from the family she married into and the weight of the world’s expectations. Her recent interview was vital to drawing attention to centuries of institutionalized racism and sexism. We believe that it will help people understand her side of the story, and also ease the pressure on and give a voice to women in archaic institutions who may never have the chance to speak up. In coming forward with her story, Meghan has become a role model for young women around the world of all races, backgrounds, religions, and nationalities.
View DWAG’s Statement of Recognition
Sylvia Ruth Gutmann is an author, speaker, and Holocaust survivor. Born in 1939, Ms. Gutmann grew up hiding from the Nazis. At the age of 3 she was torn from her mother, who was deported to the death camp at Auschwitz. Having both parents murdered in the Holocaust and eventually immigrating to America, Ms. Gutmann had to learn to assimilate as a survivor of genocide. Although she spent the majority of her life coping with loss, trauma, and loneliness, Ms. Gutmann has dedicated herself to raising awareness about the atrocities committed during the Holocaust and advocating for human rights around the world. Ms. Gutmann’s resilience as a survivor of genocide demonstrates the strength and emotional fortitude of women.
Fatou Bensouda currently works as the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In 2011, Ms. Bensouda was elected by the unanimous decision from the Assembly of States Parties, making her the first woman Prosecutor of the ICC. Prior to her appointment to this prestigious office, Ms. Bensouda quickly rose through the ranks of the judicial system in The Gambia where she was born and raised. Ms. Bensouda has had a rich background in negotiations in treaties such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and served as a delegate in the United Nations while attending conferences on crime prevention. Her first encounter with the ICC was when she was working as the Legal Advisor and Trial Attorney for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Ms. Bensouda has done outstanding work in justice, accountability, and leading prosecutions against perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Recently, Ms. Bensouda has been working tirelessly to achieve justice for the victims and their families of the Darfur genocide while negotiating with the Sudanese government on trial dates. DWAG is grateful for the Ms. Bensouda’s efforts to prosecute Omar al-Bashir and other officials who are guilty of crimes against humanity, inciting mass rape in Darfur, and the murder of over 300,000 innocent individuals.