Supporting Sudanese agency in the ongoing conflict will boost confidence-building measures for a sustained peace.

U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday announced that the Department of State added to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) five terrorist leaders operating in Africa.

The fishing town of Baga, on the shores of Lake Chad, has been devastated by both Boko Haram and the Nigerian army. It is currently controlled by the Boko Haram faction, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA). The group is led by Abu Abdallah al-Barnawi, and is separate from, and presumably a rival to, Abubakar Shekau’s faction. Obi Anyadike, a reporter, interviewed eight former residents of Baga who had fled to Maiduguri.

The past eight weeks have shown that, given enough time and tenacity, the Sudanese government is amenable to addressing demonstration demands and may point to protesting as a legitimate approach for change for future generations.

This post is co-authored by Anne Connell, assistant director of the Women and Foreign Policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations. Wednesday, March 8 marks International Women’s Day, an int…