South Sudan Project
Overview
In 2010, two South Sudanese organizations, the Institute for the Promotion of Civil Society (IPCS) and the Sudanese Organization for Nonviolence and Development (SONAD), invited Nonviolent Peaceforce to provide operational expertise in preventing violence before and during the 2011 elections and referendum.
Since then, in South Sudan, NP and its partners have collaborated to build Sudanese-led violence prevention teams. These teams act as adjuncts to traditional dispute settlement and peacebuilding activities in districts where the risk of violence is especially high.
In addition to providing a proactive presence and protective accompaniment for vulnerable civilians, trained civilian peacekeepers work with local groups to foster dialogue among parties in conflict. NP and its Sudanese partners equip civil society leaders with tested tools to strengthen their communities' confidence and capacity to reduce and prevent violence. They seek cooperation and coordination with traditional and community leaders, as well as with elected officials, civil servants, and military personnel. Working especially with women, youth, and traditional leaders, the project employs a blend of well-tested methods and novel nonviolent practices.
Standing left to right: Tiffany Easthom (Country Director), Emmanuel Taban (Finance Officer), Joyce Ngoma (ICP), Hannah Hayati (LCP), James Pio Festo (driver) George Rocky Ambago (LCP), Jimmy Okumu (LCP)Seated left to right: Michael Obodi (ICP) Richeal Solomon (LCP), Nyiriwa Le'Bere (LCP), John Boul Yourama (LCP), Juma Solomoni (Administrator)
Strategy
NP_Sudan_Activities_Overview_Final.pdf
Executive Summary
Devastated by a 21 yearâlong civil war between the north and the south of the country which ended in 2005, Sudan is again entering a period of tension. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended the war, provided for a referendum on independence for the south to be held in January 2011. Citizens remain polarised along political and tribal lines and arms are easily available in the build up to this critical time. There is a risk of smallâscale local conflict, as well as larger destabilisation in the area in the build up to the referendum.The success or failure of peacebuilding in this critical region will have implications not only for the viability of Sudanâs entire peace process, but for stability across the volatile Great Lakes region. Two Sudanese organizations, the Institute for the Promotion of Civil Society (IPCS) and the Sudanese Organization for Nonviolence and Development (SONAD), have invited Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) to provide operational expertise in the prevention of violence in the context of the forthcoming elections and referendum.
NP is a global leader in the practice of unarmed civilian peacekeeping, with a solid track record of success in conflict zones such as Guatemala, Philippines, and Sri Lanka. The effectiveness of civilian thirdâparty interventions in reducing and preventing violence has been well documented, but the capacity of local actors in conflictâaffected environments to apply this approach is often limited. In South Sudan, NP and its partners will collaborate to build Sudaneseâled conflict prevention teams consisting of 6â9 Sudanese nationals supported by 2â3 international advisors.
Protection
All NP deployments prioritise the protection of civilians from violence. The years of civil war have left South Sudan with a fragile infrastructure, which it is unable to extend comprehensively into all areas of the country. The government is also often unable, due to insufficient resources and capacity, to provide its citizens with the protection from violence that they require. There is currently a large UN peacekeeping force stationed in South Sudan, but its numbers are insufficient to ensure the safety of civilians in all areas of the country. Moreover, armed peacekeeping is extremely costly, and, in many circumstances, unnecessary.
Using its model of unarmed civilian peacekeeping, NP provides much needed support to communities threatened by violence in contexts where armed intervention would be counterproductive, unsuitable or an overreaction. In such situations, the presence of external actors provides enough of a deterrent to forestall the outbreak of violence. NPâs peacekeepers work to create a safe space in which civilians can be protected, and also work to protect the space necessary for meaningful dialogue to take place.
Because NPâs teams of trained peacekeepers live and work in the communities they protect they are able to react flexibly to developing situations, drawing upon their knowledge of the area and their ongoing risk analyses to provide contextâappropriate responses.
Whilst NP works with whole communities under threat, we recognise that there are specific groups within communities who require specialist, focused protection. In South Sudan NP focuses particularly on the protection of women and of children, who rarely engage in conflict, but are often disproportionately affected by it. In order to address the specific needs of these marginalised groups,NP is in the process of forming an allâfemale team of peacekeepers who are specially trained inidentifying and addressing incidences of sexual and genderâbased violence (SGBV). In order to address the ongoing problem of child combatants in South Sudan, NP is in the process of establishing a team dedicated to monitoring and preventing Resolution 1612 violations. The team will focus specifically on the return, reintegration and rehabilitation of children affected by armed conflict and former child combatants,in recognition of the fact that both former child combatants and the communities to which they return require sustained, specialist support if they are to overcome the trauma that they have suffered and rebuild their lives.
In order for protection strategies to be effective in the long term, communities must be able to continue them after NP has withdrawn. As a result NP places great emphasis on building the capacity of the local community to protect itself, and the community is involved throughout the term of NPâs deployment. By hiring local staff to work in partnership with the international peacekeepers, NP demonstrates both its commitment to building local capacity, and the value it places upon the knowledge and skills already inherent in the target community. Using workshops and training events NP disseminates its methodology to communities in need on an ongoing basis, and continues to offer support to communitiesâ peacekeepers as part of its comprehensive exitâstrategy after peacekeepers are no longer on the ground.
Prevention
NP believes that it is far easier to address a conflict before it has broken out than to stop it once it has begun. As a result, a concerted effort is made to identify possible drivers of conflict and prevent them from escalating. This work is greatly facilitated by the fact that the teams of unarmed civilian peacekeepers live within the communities they serve. As a result, they are extremely sensitive to the specific dynamics at play within a community, and can respond quickly and effectively to counter threats as they arise.
As a result of this belief, NP is committed to working with partners to develop a comprehensive early warning, early response programme. By virtue of NPâs unique access to local communities, the peacekeepers on the ground often hear of a potential conflict long before it comes to the attention of other actors. Whilst NP is a strictly nonâpartisan organisation, it is committed to working with other relevant actors to address conflict in the areas in which it works. As a result it is open to sharing information deemed pertinent with interested parties who may have the capacity to influence or forestall any conflict which may arise.
It is important to recognise that, whilst large areas are underdeveloped and underâserviced, South Sudan is not a lawless state. State structures exist, and, in most places, operate to the best of their ability. State actors can offer valuable insights into the context of a given conflict, and sometimes have the capacity to intervene to prevent the escalation of violence. In recognition of the need to build capacity and encourage sustainable, Sudaneseâled solutions to conflict, NP is committed to building and maintaining close working relationships with state representatives and institutions. Far from setting itself up as an alternative to state institutions, NP sees its role as to support existing structures and fill any gaps which may be revealed. As such, it is vitally important to engage local state actors on issues surrounding the prevention of conflict, in order to tap into their contextual knowledge and to build their capacity.
As with the protection component of NPâs work, building the capacity of communities to prevent conflict is of paramount importance to the organisation. In order to do this, NP works with local communities, and in particular those hardestâhit by violence, such as women and children, to develop deterrent strategies. These are tailored to the environment and context, and are designed to provide longâterm protection to communities and individuals who are under threat. By engaging with NPâs peacekeepers, communities can learn to formulate and enact policies which will keep them safe long after NP has pulled out of the region.
Peacebuilding
NP firmly believes that solutions to conflict must originate from within communities, and that local solutions must be found to local problems if sustainable peace is to be achieved. Commitment to this belief means that NP does not intervene directly in peace talks or negotiations. Instead, through the protection and prevention aspects of its programming, NP works to protect the space in which meaningful and sustained dialogue can take place.
In areas with high levels of interâcommunity violence, NP works to establish Peace Committees comprised of key actors from opposing communities. With NPâs support communities are empowered to reach across lines of conflict and formulate sustainable, nonviolent methods of addressing disagreements. Whilst this work is extremely effective, it is not a quickâfix solution, and cannot be portrayed as such. In order to affect a lasting paradigm shift communities must be supported in both the short and long term. NP recognises this, and commits fully to the communities in which it works, so that, by the conclusion of NPâs programming, they can own and implement techniques of nonviolent conflict resolution.
NP also supports local civil society organisations and individuals to interact with whatever local state structures may exist, in order to facilitate the transition from a postâconflict context to one where development can take place. Due to the relative weakness of state presence in remote areas many people are unaware of the services provided by the state, and how to go about accessing them, where they exist. As part of NPâs ongoing peacebuilding work we provide support to civil society organisations that wish to engage with the state to address issues of conflict and development. Interaction of this kind is essential if South Sudan is to move beyond its violent past and is to begin sustainable and widespread development.
NP's peacekeepers Jimmy, Nyiriwa and George with driver James on a field visit.
Field News
Click on the more link to read more of the field report.
Bentiu: a day in the life in the field
Vive Savaryarulanandam and Mohammed Zulfi are squatting over two large pots cutting vegetables outside the kitchen door. The vegetables are snake gourd, bitter gourd and long beans, all from seeds the two International Civilian Peacekeepers brought from Sri Lanka to grow in NPâs Bentiu compound. Tilapia fish is frying on a pan in a coal fire next to them. The evening has just faded and the generator has been turned on to allow light for cooking. Inside the kitchen, NPâs Child Protection Project Coordinator, Florington
Protecting the Young in Yida Refugee Camp
Itâs the middle of the afternoon at Yida Refugee Camp, South Sudan; Itâs extremely bright and the sun is blaringly hot. NP Team Leader Cathy Mavenjina scribbles the name of an unaccompanied minor down on a torn piece of paper. She collects details on the boyâs background from her colleague, Grace, then heads to the car. She has to find the boyâs family in the camp, where close to 70,000 Nuban refugees from neighboring South Kordofan state are settled. She weaves through stands and lines at the UNHCR-run refugee registration center, âLevel 1â, to the NP truck.
South Sudan Country Director Receives Award
Last week Tiffany Easthom made a stop in Minneapolis, the birth place of international NGO Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP), as part of her North America fall tour. Tiffany is the Country Director for NPâs South Sudan project where nearly 100 Unarmed Civilian Peacekeepers have been working to protect civilians and prevent violence for over two and a half years.
New Yirol West Site - First Conflict Response
The peacekeepers working at the Yirol West site, NPâs newest field site in South Sudan, did not get much time to settle in before beginning their work. Due to NPâs previous successes in the Equatoria and Lakes State region, peacekeepers were called upon to respond to inner-communal violence the very first day that the office was operational.
New Field Site Open in South Sudan
On March 21st, a Nonviolent Peaceforce team arrived in the town of Yirol, Lakes State to launch a new field site. Self-named the âAâ team, Asha, Ajanth, Ashlyn, Abuna Rocky and their driver Alex loaded their Land Cruiser with supplies and drove the 350kms of dirt road from South Sudanâs capital city, Juba, to what is now their new home. Arriving in Yirol Town, the âAâ team were greeted by their national colleagues whom they had met during the 10-day Mission Preparedness Training held a few weeks prior.
Field reports offer detailed and specific descriptions of the past and present work of Nonviolent Peaceforce in the field. Reports are produced approximately once per month by the Country Directors and other personnel on location with each NP field project.
Background
Early history
Whilst much is known about the early history of Northern Sudan, largely thanks to its close ties with the ancient Egyptian kingdoms and the achievements of the Nubian kings who left pyramids at MeroĂ« for all to see, little is known about the history of the South. Almost all of this history prior to the start of Egyptian rule in the 1820s is based on oral history. It is believed that the major tribal groupings moved into South Sudan around the 10th century AD. Further migration between the 15th and 19th centuries brought the major ethnic groups to the regions they inhabit today. The culture and traditions of the South remained largely resistant to the southward spread of Islam, largely thanks to an area of swampland the size of Belgium known as the Sudd, or âbarrierâ in Arabic. This swamp was so impenetrable that it led the Samuel Baker Governor General of Equatoria in the 1870s to declare that, âthe fabulous Styx must be a sweet rippling brook compared to this horrible creation.â It is partly the impenetrability of the Suddâs waterways which have led to the clear divisions in religion and culture between the North and the South of Sudan.
The age of imperialism and revolt
Towards the beginning of the 19th century other countries began to express awareness in Sudan. Although Egypt had had long standing interests in the region, it was unable to assert its control over the whole country, particularly once British-led initiatives against the slave trade begun to severely damage the economy of Southern Sudan. By 1881 a nationalist movement sprang up to challenge Egyptâs perceived maladministration and exploitation of Sudan. Led by Muhammed Ibn Abdalla, who declared himself to be the Mahdi, or guided one, the movement managed to take control of Khartoum in 1885, killing the British interim Governor General of Sudan, Charles Gordon, and many of the inhabitants of Khartoum. The Mahdi died later that year, and by 1889 the British had retaken Sudan and proclaimed it an Anglo-Egyptian Condominium. In reality, the Condominium was little more than a cover for British control, which was to last until 1956. The British directed most of their efforts in Sudan into building the economy of the northern area around Khartoum, to the detriment of the rest of the country. Until the 1940s the British had ruled North and South Sudan as two separate countries, with distinct legal and administrative systems. However, in the run-up to independence their policy changed and North and South Sudan were united by one integrated government. Southerners felt that they were under-represented in this government, in which Northern Sudanese held most of the posts. In response to this perceived marginalisation, Southerners formed the Sudan African Nationalist Union (SANU), which became involved in the first Sudanese Civil War in 1958. SANU did not have one specific aim, and was split along tribal lines. Some of the Southern tribes wanted total independence for the South, and others advocating a federalist state.
In 1969 Sudan suffered its second coup, which brought Jaafar Nimeiri to power. In 1972 he successfully negotiated the end of the civil war in the South. Negotiations resulted in the Addis Ababa Agreement, which granted the South regional self-government and a greater say in Khartoum politics. Nimeiri next turned his attention to upgrading Sudanâs infrastructure. Unfortunately, the projects he approved were very expensive failures, and the economy suffered accordingly. In the wake of economic decline, Islamic parties began to gain power in the North. They put pressure on Nimeiri to renounce the Addis Ababa Agreement and bring the South back under direct control of the North. In 1981 the autonomous Southern region was broken up, and sharia law was imposed. By the end of 1983, South Sudan had returned to war. By 1985 Nimeiri was removed from power by another coup. A final coup in 1989 bought Omar al-Bashir, the current President of Sudan, to power.
The civil war
The dominant force in the Southâs struggle was the Sudan Peopleâs Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), which was headed by the Dinka army defector John Garang. As the SPLM became more and more successful the government in the North increasingly relied upon Islam to motivate its troops, calling the war a jihad against the rebels. In 1991 the SPLM/A split down the middle when the Nuer commander Riek Machar rebelled against Garang. As a result, Southerners spent many of the following years fighting each other as fiercely as they fought the North. Talks began between all of the warring parties in 2002, and by 2003 a ceasefire was declared across the whole South. These talks resulted in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, which settled issues of oil revenue, and provided for a referendum on independence for the South. It was also agreed that the âtransitional areasâ of the Nuba Mountians and Blue Nile State would be consulted on joining the North or the South, and Abyei would have a binding referendum. Following the adoption of the CPA, Omar al-Bashir remained President of Sudan, whilst Garang was to be Vice-President. The death of Garang in a helicopter accident a fortnight after he was sworn in threatened to derail the peace agreement, but he was quickly replaced by Slava Kiir Mayardit, who is currently the de facto President of South Sudan, with Riek Machar has his Deputy.
Lead up to referendum
The referendum on Southern independence provided for by the CPA is scheduled to take place on 9th January, despite an increase in the rhetoric from both sides. Difficulties registering potential voters have been reported, and it is widely accepted that the negotiations on a post-referendum timetable are yet to begin. There is no doubt that Southern Sudan will face significant challenges if it votes to secede, as the years of war have taken a devastating toll upon the infrastructure of the country. Only 12% of women are literate, it has the fifth highest maternal mortality rate in the world, and the World Food Programme currently targets 1.4 million people for relief services in the South. These indicators suggest that the situation in South Sudan could be easily destabilised. Moreover, the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) has made it abundantly clear that it is ready to return to war to ensure that South Sudan achieves its independence.
