Livelihoods, Power and Choice: The Vulnerability of the Northern Rizaygat, Darfur, Sudan

Publisher: Helen Young, Abdal Monium Osman, Ahmed Malik Abusin, Michael Asher, and Omer Egemi (UNEP and Tufts University)

Date: 2009

Topics: Assessment, Livelihoods

Countries: Sudan

“Livelihoods in Darfur are intimately linked to the conflict, none more so than the livelihoods of the Northern Rizaygat—a group of Arabic- speaking, camel-herding nomads living in the Sudanese states of North, South, and West Darfur. They have achieved notoriety for their role in the Janjaweed—the pejorative name given to the loose groupings of armed Arab tribesmen, who, since 2003, have been integral players in Darfur’s conflict and instrumental to the Sudanese government’s counterinsurgency campaign. Little attention has been paid to exploring how the Northern Rizaygat’s lives and livelihoods have been affected by the conflict or to their livelihood goals and hopes for future peace and security. This lack of knowledge helps explain their relative exclusion from various forms of international action on Darfur—humanitarian programming, international peace processes, and international advocacy campaigns.”