Redefining Development and the Environment in an Era of Global Norms III: Putting norms to work in Sudan

The objective of the project is to assist those who have suffered or appear likely to suffer from the most from national 'development' projects that disregards people's lives. As experienced with the Merowe Dam in northern Sudan, displacement and inadequate compensation appear to form part of a pattern that may yet extend to similar dams that are on the drawing-board.

Over 50,000 Amri, Hamdab, and Manasir people were forced to flee when construction began in 2006 - an almost mirror replica of the much more well-known displacement of Nubian people in the 1950s following construction of the Aswan High Dam.
Under normal circumstances, research on the development of environmental norms in countries run autocratically would have scant effect on the lives of the people displaced, as it risks being side-lined by the government action. The very big window of opportunity that exists for the project is due to the sudden change in government following the revolution of February 2019. The new transitional government is largely driven by technocrats, and is keen to develop 'science'-driven policy.
The project thus has three components to combine outward facing communications activities, with inward-facing policy development, as well as dialogue between the two. A Communications component will take the very well-received Merowe Dam: A Shattered Dream 32-min documentary to new heights. The film will become the vehicle to reach the most relevant local and international audiences (particularly in places where the Sudanese diaspora is active, such as London and Toronto). It will also be used to initiate dialogue with the new set of policymakers.

A 'dialogue' component of the project will seek to entrench the norms that have developed at the dam reservoir and internationally. By norms, we mean the sets of ideas about the ways natural resource-related 'development' projects *should* be built, including now well-established ideas of participation, environmental damage limitation, and social justice. The set of norms most relevant to dams have been codified in the 2000 World Commission on Dams report, which was evidently shelved during the construction of the Merowe Dam. Four workshops will build upon each other to push the most relevant norms from the reservoir on upwards, by getting the right people in a 'safe space' in order to followed loosely structured discussions. Participants will include the people directly affected by the dam, international policy makers in the UN and international NGOs, and the 'brokers' who move between the two.

Finally, the 'policy' component of the project will assist the development of progressive policy and norms in relation to natural resources in Sudan. Aware that the merits of such policy are well understood and desired by the relevant ministries (water, agriculture, etc), the project will respond to the preferences expressed by the policymakers during consultations undertaken at the outset of the project. We expect such support to take the form of policy briefs, assistance with national reporting requirements (to e.g. UNECE, UNFCCC), and assistance with preparation of in-depth background documents for participation in bilateral, basin or international state-to-state meetings.
The project's ambition is matched by its extremely dynamic team working through a Collaboration Agreement between University of East Anglia and the University of Khartoum. With the bulk of activities run out of Khartoum and each team member fully respected for their commitment to the principles of the struggle and networks with policymakers, the project will ensure (i) maximum integration with the communities concerned, whether local, national, or international; (ii) the project is executed according to international management and financial standards; and (iii) value for money, with roughly 85% of the fund spent in Sudan.

As detailed in the Pathways to Impact document, the project will have impact both on policy and on environmental struggles in Sudan. This will be accomplished by an extremely dynamic team that is perfectly positioned to make the most of a window of opportunity that has had no parallel for decades.

While the previous Joint Fund projects compared contexts in Sudan, Nepal, and Uganda, the focus here on Sudan will serve to maximize impact in a number of ways: i) the shift from a comparative project to a particular case allows more resource to be devoted to mine more deeply; ii) the very effective working relationship established between the UK and Sudan-based researchers on the previous projects; iii) the welcome reception of the work both in Sudan and by Sudanese diaspora abroad (notably the screening of the Shattered Dream documentary); and iv) the opportunity for progress along the very lines of environmental norm-development is the greatest it has been for decades, by virtue of the general public's replacement of the previous autocratic government of Sudan, in February 2019.

Understanding that a system can change when pressure from the outside aligns with willingness to change on the inside, three components of the project target four audiences: (i) policymakers and staff of relevant governmental and state ministries; (ii) the staff and campaigns of international organisations; (iii) activists from dam projects that have recently been built or are currently planned along the Nile; and (iv) the general public in Sudan, and internationally.

Each of the project components effectively serves as an 'impact pathway' targeting different audiences. For example, members of the emerging technocratic government will benefit directly from the capacity built in relation to environmental policy, through the Policy Strengthening component. The policy documents that the project creates may further prove of direct benefit to the Amri, Hamdab, and Manasir people advocating for greater compensation and awareness of their plight, and pre-emptive support to those likely to be affected by the planned Dal and Kajbar dams.

The 'safe-space' discussions that the Norm Building component will host will be designed to provide the renewed support for campaigns that have been overtaken by broader political events in the country, at the most opportune time to effect real change. The workshops will be designed to build upon each other, in order to crystallise and synthesise the interests of the people affected by the dam in ways that the general public in Sudan and the new government can act upon. The Hamdab, Amri, and Manaseer executive committees will benefit directly from greater recognition of their campaigns in the seat of government, and the people they represent have a more substantial chance for just compensation than previously.

The Communications component will ensure the success of the other components primarily by using the documentary film 'Shattered Dream' as a tool for opening discussion and raising awareness of the issues. The film has exactly this effect when screened in Sudan and London, and will be combined with an assertive social media campaign backed-up by a dedicated webpage hosted by the UEA Water Security Research Centre.