Resource Library

As Sudan’s devastating conflict enters its fourth year, the priorities of victims and Sudanese civilians must be central to efforts to end the violence and build sustainable peace. Against this backdrop, ICTJ and the Government of the Netherlands convened a policy roundtable in The Hague on advancing victim-centered justice for durable peace in Sudan.

In Chad, the 2022 Doha Peace Agreement and the subsequent national discussions on reconciliation have created a rare opportunity for Chadians to confront the legacies of past human rights violations. Over the past several months, ICTJ has been assessing whether this opening could provide a viable entry point for transitional justice in the country.

Over 100 representatives of civil society organizations, victims’ associations, government institutions, and diplomatic missions recently gathered in Addis Ababa to discuss what an inclusive transitional justice process in Ethiopia should look like. Participants explored best practices, local approaches, as well as persistent challenges to ensuring that those most affected by injustice play a central role in any process designed to address it.

Long before ICTJ existed, societies everywhere wrestled with the justice-related dilemmas caused by violent conflict, and victims, communities, and courageous leaders found answers of their own. What was missing was a place where people who took part in those different experiences could meet, share knowledge and lessons, and build a community to respond together to the evolving challenges to justice and peace. In 2001, ICTJ was created to be that place and to catalyze a collective effort to address massive human rights violations and build a peaceful, inclusive, and just future.

Civil society actors involved in transitional justice processes use narrative communication in strategic and agile ways. This work is vitally important, and yet it does not receive the attention and support it should.