In Greater Tonj, Peace Canal is bringing its experience of adaptive peacebuilding programming in Lakes and Jonglei/GPAA as part of the Kong Koch project, under the Reconciliation, Stabilisation and Resilience Trust Fund (RSRTF). The program proposal explains:

Efforts to address conflict in Tonj over the last two decades have generally not adopted an intentional, sequenced, and community-led peacebuilding approach. Resolutions are often not implemented, with no visible peace dividends or mechanisms to contain new incidents. The suppression of norms of restraint (including kong koc) has removed safeguards from customary institutions, which is exacerbated by ongoing impunity. Peace attempts often lack resourcing and scope to cover the maximum geographic and social extent of prevailing conflict dynamics.

The project, which takes a phased approach, situates dialogues in Phase 1 (engagement phase) within a systematic process. Partners will engage those directly responsible for violence and work to strengthen community structures and practices for conflict management. The pivot from Phase 1 to Phase 2 (implementation phase), will be via a Greater Tonj conference which will articulate the negotiated position of all stakeholders, including key issues and proposed mechanisms for addressing them. Partners have identified broad programmatic parameters in this proposal based on initial analysis, but specifics will be decided and aligned with the inter-group agreement on priorities. In Phase 2, selected resilience and stabilization interventions will be implemented. In the complex dynamics of this programming, many opportunities will only emerge and develop as the program moves forward and therefore cannot be fully articulated in advance. A system that will make visible these opportunities (and, where relevant, risks) in a timely manner, with an equally timely mechanism to respond, is therefore central to this strategy.