Conflict, Climate and Gender Assessment in and around the Dinder National Park, Sudan
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This Conflict, Climate and Gender Assessment provides an integrated analysis of the interaction of climate change impacts and risks, conflict dynamics and gender power relations in and around Dinder National Park (DNP), spanning Blue Nile, Sennar and Gedaref States. Prepared within the framework of the UNEP project “Enhancing Food Security and Resilience of Rural Communities in and around Dinder National Park,” the assessment aims to ensure conflict, climate and gender sensitive implementation and identify opportunities to integrate peacebuilding, climate change adaptation and gender equality. It draws on the Weathering Risk methodology, using qualitative data collection through an extensive review of primary and secondary literature, key informant interviews with government, civil society, international and multilateral actors, local communities, and a virtual conflict sensitivity workshop that mapped dividers and connectors, identified local conflict drivers, and validated findings with stakeholders familiar with realities in and around DNP.
Sudan’s civil war, now in its third year, has led to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. It has been driven by entrenched political instability, shifting conflict actors’ alliances, severe economic contraction, widespread insecurity and mass displacement. These national-level pressures reverberate locally, amplifying longstanding tensions over land, water and forest resources, exacerbated by climate variability, drought, environmental degradation and unclear land tenure. In the DNP landscape, decades of mechanised agricultural expansion into traditional grazing areas have reduced access to pasture and water, pushing more pastoralists and livestock into the park and intensifying disputes among farmers, herders and park authorities. The influx of internally displaced people (IDPs) further strains resources and services, challenges social cohesion and complicates resource governance.
Three climate–security pathways underpin current risks:
Recurrent droughts, erratic rainfall, and conflict-induced displacement are undermining farming and herding systems, pushing households toward harmful coping strategies such as charcoal production, artisanal gold mining, and encroachment into protected areas. These dynamics weaken ecological integrity, community resilience, and sustainable livelihoods. Women are disproportionately affected due to limited access to land, finance, climate information, safe mobility, markets, and decision-making platforms, exposing them to greater harm, exploitation, and gender-based violence.
Conflict and climate impacts are reshaping mobility, with people and livestock converging within and around DNP. This heightens pressure on grazing and water resources, increases friction among host communities, IDPs and authorities, and risks new flashpoints along migratory corridors. Displacement also increases protection risks for women and girls, exposing them to sexual violence and exploitation and restricts their access to livelihoods and essential services.
Expanding mechanized agriculture, uncertain land rights, climate change impacts, and evolving conflict dynamics intensify competition for land and water across identity groups, undermining trust and collaborative resource management. In contested areas, women’s exclusion from decision-making further limits equitable access, for example to land and water and heightens vulnerability to abuse and dispossession.
Gender dynamics cut across these pathways. The war has deepened social divisions and gendered vulnerabilities, including heightened risks of sexual and gender-based violence, reduced access to services and constrained economic opportunities for women and girls. Yet women and youth are also central agents of peacebuilding and local problem-solving, often leading community-based initiatives, mediating disputes and supporting livelihood diversification. Embedding gender-responsive approaches and targeted support to livelihood strategies in climate resilience and conflict transformation is therefore essential to equitable and sustainable outcomes.
Conflict sensitivity analysis indicates multiple dividers around DNP: intensified competition among pastoralists, farmers, IDPs and large-scale agricultural enterprises; weakened customary resource sharing arrangements; pressures linked to displacement; and fragile institutional coordination with power imbalances in local governance. At the same time, several connectors provide entry points for building social cohesion: community-based resource management, active peace committees, traditional governance structures with potential for inclusive reform, and project modalities that emphasize participatory, climate-smart, and gender-responsive practices. Strengthening these connectors, while actively mitigating dividers, is key to bridging climate resilience and peacebuilding in Sudan.
Key entry points to integrate climate change adaptation, peacebuilding, and gender equality:
Promote climate-smart, agro-ecological practices that diversify incomes and reduce reliance on park resources; support gender-responsive training for smallholders and pastoralists on sustainable agriculture and livestock management; and develop local value chains (e.g., honey, gum arabic, non-timber forest products) to boost household incomes and create conservation incentives, particularly for women and youth. In parallel, build local committees’ mediation capacity, provide targeted negotiation and mediation training for wildlife authorities, pastoralists, farmers and large operators, and partner with peace and human rights organisations.
Strengthen early warning systems, expand access to climate information, and facilitate community-based disaster risk reduction (e.g., water harvesting, soil conservation, drought resistant crops, mulching, cover cropping, integrated pest management). Apply inclusive and gender-sensitive approaches to ensure benefits reach women, youth and marginalized groups. Link early warning systems to local peace committees to foster dialogues around preparedness and conduct inclusive dispute mapping with collaborative problem solving among all community groups.
Establish and strengthen local resource governance bodies with representation from farmers, pastoralists, IDPs, women and youth; promote participatory, gender-responsive land use planning to clarify tenure and protect critical habitats; and implement inclusive dispute resolution mechanisms covering land, water, and grazing rights. Strengthen the mediation capacity of resource management institutions and traditional conflict management mechanisms, and deliver negotiation training to authorities and operators, convene inclusive dialogue platforms to address resource disputes, and ensure transparent beneficiary criteria.
Invest in mediation and conflict transformation capacities for local leaders and facilitators; convene dialogue platforms and peace committees to address grievances; support joint community projects (e.g., shared water points, market infrastructure) that build intergroup trust; and promote inclusive decision making and leadership training for women and youth. Integrate conflict sensitivity and “do no harm” principles throughout activities.
This would be across all entry points through representation in decision-making (measured not only by attendance but also by their actual influence over decisions and leadership roles), tailored training and mentorship, practical enablers (safe venues, flexible scheduling, childcare, transport stipends), and robust safeguarding (SGBV risk mitigation, referral pathways). Ensure women and youth have access to tangible benefits from their participation, and establish grievance and feedback mechanisms with regular assessment of user satisfaction. All monitoring of participation should be sex-, age-, and displacement-disaggregated to track equity and progress. Catalyse women and youth-led micro-enterprises (e.g., honey processing, tree nurseries, efficient cookstoves) and apprenticeships in "green" trades (water-point maintenance, land restoration), and formalise roles as community mediators and climate monitors to link economic empowerment with conservation incentives and local peacebuilding.
Cross cutting implementation safeguards should include adaptive management with regular conflict trend monitoring; co-developed peacebuilding and gender impact indicators; robust environmental and social safeguards with communication channels to anticipate escalation; transparent stakeholder engagement and grievance mechanisms, with particular attention to women and youth; and equitable benefit-sharing and inclusive participation across all interventions.
Integrating climate resilience, equitable natural resource governance and local peacebuilding capacities can help stabilise livelihoods, reduce pressure on DNP’s ecosystems, and strengthen social cohesion. Bridging climate resilience, peacebuilding and gender equality is not only feasible, it is imperative for sustainable outcomes in Sudan’s rapidly evolving context.
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This description was extracted from the report's executive summary.
