Sudanese war victim addresses UN Security Council
By Daniel Wallis
NAIROBI, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Acuil Bangol was separated from his son for years by southern Sudan’s civil war.
On Friday, he finally got a chance to tell Sudanese government and rebel leaders and all 15 members of the United Nations Security Council how he and millions like him have suffered.
“Many families across Sudan have experienced the same and have been waiting for years for peace to come to be able to find their children,” said the softly spoken community worker.
“Wherever I have been people ask me if I have seen their family members, if I have seen their son, their daughter, father, mother. Everywhere I go.”
Bangol was one of several southern Sudanese civil society members who met government officials and rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
The two sides have been fighting over resources and ideology for the last 21 years, but at a special session of the U.N. Security Council in Nairobi on Friday, they agreed to end Africa’s longest-running conflict by the end of the year.
But some grassroots activists remained sceptical it would end a war that has killed an estimated 2 million people, mostly through famine and disease, and forced many more from their homes.
Anisia Achieng of the Sudanese Women’s Voice for Peace said all agreements had to be drawn up in consultation with local communities if they were to be effective.
“Imagine a child soldier in the Upper Nile region. His life is a military one. He cannot read, he does not have radio or television. He doesn’t even have any idea there is a Security Council meeting here today in Nairobi,” she said.
“For this meeting to make a difference to this child, and to a Sudanese mother like me, we need to find a way to help all people, especially women, to learn what peace will mean for them.”
The Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution promising political and economic support once Sudan is at peace.
Alfred Lokuji of the South Sudan Development Initiative said it could take decades to resettle the 6 million people he estimates have been displaced by the war.
“The international community should not run away after the peace agreement. They should stay and support the integration process to its ultimate end,” he said.
“A comprehensive approach to peace and development is needed, fighting bush fires is not enough.”