Hope for a Better Future in South Sudan
By Shete Wangira, Program Manager JHC-SS
The rule of law, expansion of civic and political space and promotion of peaceful coexistence among communities are key to sustainable peace in South Sudan. The situation in the country is generally volatile with communities always on edge due to sporadic incidences of violence. Recent rampant raiding, revenge killings, and hate speech have ignited a wave of violent clashes causing immense harm to communities in Warrap State, which neighbors Lakes State where Jesuits are working in Cueibet and Rumbek Counties. The surge in intercommunal clashes have led to the loss of lives and forced over 3,000 people, including women, children and the elderly to flee their homes. The number of internally displaced persons rises with each spate of intercommunal violence. The conflict situation is exacerbated by the dire economic situation with government employees going without salaries for the last 9 months.
The Tumaini Peace Initiative for South Sudan in Nairobi, Kenya that seeks to bring all the political parties on the dialogue table to address the situation in South Sudan in preparation for elections sloted for December 2024 seems, unfortunately, to disintegrate as various parties withdraw from the talks.
Hakimani South Sudan as a centre for social justice, peace and reconciliation in South Sudan continues, on the other hand, to work closely with different stakeholders including the civil society organizations, religious leaders, United Nations Mission in South Sudan and community leaders to alleviate the suffering of the people and promote peaceful co-existence among communities. Working in close collaboration with Catholic Justice and Peace Desk in the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek since May 2024, Hakimani-South Sudan has been engaging members of the Catholic Justice and Peace Committee (CJPC) in all of the 17 parishes of the Diocese of Rumbek on various related topics such as civic education, conflict mitigation and tackling hate speech especially through the social media platforms.
Upholding the rule of law, using the formal judicial systems, engagement in community dialogues, reconciliation and community peacebuilding activities are slowly contributing towards reducing tensions, preventing violence and revenge killings and generally resolving conflicts among the communities in areas that we are operating, at least for now. Despite the intermittent violence and conflict in the country, efforts to foster peaceful coexistence among communities should be supported and maintain because they are bearing fruits especailly when peace buidling is combined with human development endeavors such as clean water for all or income generation projects such as maize grinding mills that bring the women and people together as well as improving economic development in the country. Let us continue to pray for peace building through development in South Sudan.
