Peace and Self-governance Project for South Sudan for 2001

Peacebuilding and Restoring Civil Society

Why are people fighting in Sudan?

The British colonial administration ruled Sudan by dividing it into the Arab Islamic North and the African Christian South. Thus, when independence was granted in 1956, the Islamic political parties in the north had no intention of sharing power with the African Christian south. Civil war broke out. Not one of the succession of northern governments could bring the conflict under control. Fighting continued until 1972, when the Southern Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM) signed a peace agreement with the northern government.

Discovery of Natural Resources Raises the Stakes

Sudan’s government pursued socialist-style economic development during the 1970s. By the end of the decade, the national economy was in shambles. Then came the discovery of valuable minerals and petroleum in the south. The government in Khartoum determined to exploit the south’s natural resources at any cost. In 1983, to rally support from the northern Islamic political parties, the President of Sudan declared Islamic law as civil law and abolished self-rule for southerners. Today Sudan is a battleground for control of the agricultural and mineral resources in southern Sudan. It is also a frontline in a struggle for cultural and religious freedom.

A War Within a War

In 1983, the country exploded into a second civil war, escalated by a religious necessity not evident in the first struggle. The southern forces reorganized as the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLA). Marxist thought dominated the ideology of the SPLA, bringing devastating consequences as the rebel leadership terrorized its own people. When the SPLA split into factions in 1991, the south soon was destroyed by the in-fighting that resulted. The government in Khartoum encourages inter-ethnic fighting among southerners in order to facilitate exploitation of the oil reserves.

What is People-to-People Peacemaking?

In the years following the SPLA split, SSFI founders Wal and Julia Duany attempted to persuade liberation army faction leaders to make peace. When these efforts failed to produce any measurable cessation of fighting in the South, the Duanys realized that one-on-one (or people-to-people) peacemaking on the grassroots level held the key to unlock the struggle. Since women have been traditionally the initiators of peace between Nilotic clan and ethnic groups, grassroots women were encouraged to convince the men in their families to stop fighting. Community reconciliation began to replace retaliation as, for example, women refused to milk stolen cows. Their husbands then returned the cows and apologized.

SSFI’s Peace and Self-governance Project took shape when people-to-people reconciliation was attempted on the clan level at Akobo, Upper Nile, in 1994. The combined resources of church groups, ethnic leaders, soldiers, individuals, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) made it possible for two large Nuer clans to settle their differences peacefully and to restore law and order to the region.

The success of the Akobo Peace and Reconciliation Conference initiated a national conversation among southern people about attempting people-to-people peacemaking on the ethnic or regional level. This led to a landmark regional conference at Wunlit in 1999 between the Dinka and Nuer peoples on the east bank of the Nile River. The Wunlit conference is being followed by other regional peace and reconciliation conferences between clans and ethnic groups throughout southern Sudan.

In areas where people-to-people peacemaking has been initiated, major inter-factional warfare has ceased; raiding of villages and cattle has stopped; and abducted men, women, and children (sometimes known as “slaves”) have been returned to their families. Famine has ended by re-opening shared grazing and fishing areas and re-opening trade across ethnic lines. The Bentiu area is a good example. There, Nuer clans moved into Bahr el-Ghazal to escape government efforts to control the oil region. In the past, the government would have arranged some provocation to cause resident clans and displaced clans to begin fighting each other. But as a result of people-to-people peacemaking, the clans have settled together peacefully, recognizing that the common enemy is the oil revenue-hungry Northern government.

How does People-to-People Peacemaking work?

The people-to-people peace process combines traditional Nilotic and modern ways to build “bridges” between communities in conflict. The process begins with reconciliation on the family level, then moves to the lineage level, and finally, to the clan level. Representatives at the clan level from each community are elected to attend a Peace and Reconciliation Conference.

It is important to keep in mind that peacebuilding does not end with a peace conference. It continues through collaborative efforts to restore society, establish self-governing, democratic institutions, and sustain a productive way of life. There are four broad elements that must be coordinated over time to consolidate peace:

Grassroots Leadership

Because the war has displaced so many people in southern Sudan, leadership and training are needed to help grassroots communities and their leaders implement the resolutions of the Peace Conference. There is a need to repatriate, from every region and clan, men and women who can help with training and linking resources to community needs.

Peace and Reconciliation Mobilization

After the clan level, the next level for people-to-people peacemaking is the macro (or southern Sudan) level. The political leaders on the macro or national level need to be encouraged to follow the example of their grassroots constituency. Out of the regional reconciliation conferences will evolve a broad base of support for a national (southern) Peace and Reconciliation Conference.

Restoration of Community Governance

As peace and reconciliation are occurring region-by-region, district (clan level) Peace and Governance Councils are elected to provide the grassroots leadership needed to consolidate the peace. The District Councils set up lines of communication with other districts and restore community self-governance by setting up civil institutions such as chief courts and local police posts. They also participate in conferences on the regional and national (southern Sudan) levels.

Logistics and Supplies

Because the people themselves have “taken ownership” of the peace process, stability is returning to the society. As the fighting stops, the logistics of humanitarian relief and development projects can begin, adding to stability a level of economic and social recovery.

SSFI’s Peace and Self-governance Project

The trend toward people-to-people peacemaking is rapidly expanding throughout southern Sudan. It is handicapped, however, by a lack of resources and by a lack of international recognition and support.

To meet this need, SSFI has developed a Peace and Self-governance Project that promotes collaboration between international and indigenous organizations to help the people of southern Sudan apply their inventiveness and ingenuity both in making peace and in solving their economic, social, and political problems. Project leader Wal Duany and his wife Julia specialize in developing the potentials for conflict resolution, consensus building, and self-governance in southern Sudan on the grassroots level that will lead to peacemaking on the macro level.

About South Sudanese Friends International

SSFI is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit corporation founded in 1994, funded by contributions from individuals, religious organizations, and civic groups that affirm our mission. Our mission is sharing the love of Jesus Christ with the people of southern Sudan in a way that leads them towards peaceful and self-reliant living from the grassroots level, so that available resources will meet the needs of their communities.

SSFI ---

· works in Sudan at grassroots, national, and inter-national levels to initiate and encourage peacemaking,

· helps people in Sudanese communities learn to support one another and live together in peace by teaching and applying principles of pluralism, democracy, and respect for human rights,

· organizes self-reliance programs in southern Sudan to help families both individually and collectively to solve their own problems,

· works to link existing relief and development organizations with specific community needs.

To support people-to-people peacemaking in southern Sudan:

The total Peace and Self-governance Project requires a significant level of funding, but you can help fund any part of the project. You can send a tax-deductible contribution to

SSFI
P. O. Box 8582
Bloomington, IN 47407

SSFI is a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt non-profit corporation founded in 1994. Our activities are funded by contributions from individuals, religious organizations, and civic groups that share our love for the Sudanese people.

Budget summary

Click here for a summary of the 2001 budget for SSFI’s Peace and Self-Governance Project.

SSFI's mission is to share the love of Jesus Christ with the people of southern Sudan in a way that leads them towards peaceful and self-reliant living from the grassroots level, so that available resources will meet the needs of their communities.