EU, IOM launch peace initiative in South Sudan
April 7, 2013 (JUBA) – The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has embarked on several peace promotion events, seeking to bring conflicting South Sudanese communities in harmony with one another.
The initiative, part of IOM’s €4.9m Peace and Stability Quick Impact Fund (PSQIK) programme, seeks to enhance cooperation and sharing of resources, in the wake of the country’s widespread level of inter-communal violence.
PSQIK was established in 2012, with the support of the European Union’s instrument for stability.
Under the scheme, IOM reportedly works with local partners to provide quick, flexible and visible peace-building and stabilizing interventions in South Sudan’s border states of Warrap, Northern Bahr el-Ghazal and Unity.
South Sudan split from neighbouring Sudan in July 2011, after its population chose separation in referendum. The vote was a prerequisite of the 2005 peace deal, which ended over two decades of the north-south civil war.
Since then, however, the young nation continues to experience tension and violence in various communities, mostly fuelled by limited access to water, frequent cattle raids and clashes between ethnic groups.
“When people come together and talk to each other, they appreciate their common identity, and know that the solutions to their problems need to come from within”, Marko Madut Garang, a peace coordinator with South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission said at last week’s event held in Warrap.
With this foundation set by the EU and IOM, the government will be able to continue promoting the dividends of peace, he stressed.
Vincent Houver, IOM chief of mission, said the programme will positively impact on people and bring lasting peace in their various communities.
“It is our hope that we can build on these successes to bring dialogue and understanding to other parts of South Sudan where violence has become entrenched,” he remarked.
Tension in most part of the country, officials says, are exacerbated by a lack of communication between communities, leading to mistrust and an ongoing cycle of revenge attacks for past grievances.
Earlier this year, the country witnessed renewed violence between pastoralist groups and resident communities, as well as several cattle raiding incidences in various parts of South Sudan. Over 200,000 South Sudanese, according to the United Nations, are at risk of being displaced by violence, this year.
Meanwhile, plans are reportedly underway, based on positive outcomes of the programme, to extend the PSQIF approach to Jonglei state; a region that has witnessed cycles of violence.
(ST)