The cycles of opportunity and threat continue in Jonglei and GPAA. Peace partners in the area based programming experimented with a new approach to supporting community leadership agency in the dissemination of local peace processes.
After a successful renewal of the Inter-Communal Governance Structures for Jonglei-GPAA in July, the delegates came together in Ayod from 2-6 November. Weather plagued the logistics, but the meeting maintained momentum from the first gathering in Juba.
After more than a year in abeyance, the Inter-Communal Governance Structures re-convened in Juba to discuss ways forward amidst the ongoing conflict between and within communities of Jonglei and GPAA.
Weideng is home to the shrine of the Nuer spiritual leader Ngundeng and represents a historical and spiritual focal point for the wider Nuer community. 26 May – 01 April, Nuer from Ayod, Nyirol, Uror, Akobo and Ulang came to Weideng for a peace Conference culminating months of local pre-dialogues.
The peace engagement in Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) continues in the face of active mobilisation attempts led by some factions of armed youth leadership in Jonglei. From 24 April to 1 May, a delegation of community leaders, supported by a combined team from Nonviolent Peaceforce and Peace Canal, visited communities in the Nanaam area of GPAA.
Almost one year since the Pieri agreement, persistent provocations undermine the stability needed for both humanitarian and development assistance. Simplified narratives characterise this as one community’s youth uncontrolled and wreaking havoc across the area. The reality is more complex in both sides, and a series of intra-communal dialogues is underway to identify internal levers for the inter-communal peace.
The inter-communal peace process in Greater Jonglei and Pibor is endlessly fraught, and yet holding. The second meeting of the inter-communal governance structures, launched in Bor in October, took place in Pibor from 18-20 December.
As tensions increase with the onset of the dry season and ongoing criminal attacks, leaders of Lou, Gawaar Nuer and Murle met in Kongor 22-26 November to discuss practical steps that can be taken in the crucial weeks ahead.
Although the two communities are geographically non-contiguous, they have been in direct conflict with each other. These meetings in Gumuruk and Ayod, with the support of the Jonglei State Government and GPAA, were the first time for the leadership of the two communities to meet on a peaceful footing.
By the closing day of the inception workshop for the inter-communal governance structures, the tone had noticeably shifted. The tendency to revert to the blame game steered back towards a collective responsibility for the peace…
Juba Coordination Office
Office 8, Second Floor, Aron Hotel | Juba
+211 922 802 240 | info@peacecanal.org
Registered NGO 3635