The Conflict and Research Programme at the London School of Economics, of which WPF is a partner, has just published a new South Sudan Policy Memo, “The Perils of Payroll Peace.” South Sudan’s peace is structured to create material incentives for political elites and soldiers to stick to the agreement. But it also creates a huge opportunity for the parties to mobilize for a new round of war. This happens through the process of cantonment of…

The following criteria for more effectively resolving the conflict in South Sudan were de-veloped by the South Sudan Reflection Group, facilitated by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung South Sudan Office. The Reflection Group was comprised of experts and senior civil-society representatives from South Sudan and other African countries who have long engaged in and with South Sudan. The Reflection Group sought to identify what is needed to externally support efforts to end the conflict – inclusively, collectively and…

This policy paper highlights opportunities to engage women at the local level to address community conflict issues, promote peace, and empower women as agents of change in South Sudan. It follows the analysis and findings of Search for Common Ground’s November 2017 Building a Constituency for Peace in South Sudan, which examined annual data on conflict perceptions and attitudes collected over a four-year span illuminate various opportunities for actors interested in peace to constructively engage….

After several months of political and diplomatic shuttling by mediators, South Sudan finally has a peace deal. Broadly, the new agreement recognises the evolution of the conflict and no longer considers the civil war as binary duel between the two protagonists but rather as involving many actors. It also accepts that Uganda and Sudan, the closest allies to the various conflict parties, play an instrumental role in realising a lasting and sustainable peace agreement. The…

When South Sudan’s war began, the Beatles were playing their first hits and reaching the moon was an astronaut’s dream. Half a century later, with millions massacred in Africa’s longest war, the continent’s biggest country split in two. It was an extraordinary, unprecedented experiment. Many have fought, but South Sudan did the impossible, and won. This is the story of an epic fight for freedom. It is also the story of a nightmare. First Raise a…

The area that is today’s South Sudan was once a marginalized region in the Republic of Sudan administered by tribal chiefs during the British colonial period (1899-1955). In the 1950s, marginalization gave rise to the Anyanya I rebellion, spearheaded by southern Sudanese separatists and resulting in the First Sudanese Civil War (1955-1972). The war ended after the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, only for another civil war to break out in 1983 instigated by the Sudan…

​Liberia and South Sudan represent important case studies for what sustaining peace means in practice. They provide an opportunity to interrogate how the United Nations (UN) can ensure greater inclusivity in activities carried out across the sustaining peace spectrum, including mediation, security sector reform and institution building. With the current UN focus on sustaining peace, this report provides practical recommendations for more inclusive processes. Download

In South Sudan, many young people understand the need for them to participate in peacebuilding, but often lack the capacity and resources to take action. Conciliation Resources carried out a study to capture the voices of over 100 young people in the context of on-going civil war in the country. This report documents their thoughts on what needs to change to enable them to meaningfully participate in peacebuilding. Download

This report argues that a systemwide donor-driven transition to renewable energy—and specifically solar power—to support humanitarian programming is a viable way forward both now and over the longer term. Although such a transition alone will not end the conflict, it offers donors a more strategic alternative to the current practice. In the near term, a pivot to renewable energy will offer significant cost savings in a nation where electricity generation is one of the highest…

This position paper seeks to provide a roadmap to help South Sudan political leaders and citizens engage in dialogue at multiple levels, while urging the regional and international communities to put pressure on the conflicting parties to end this senseless war. The principle approach, as set out in Rwanda in 2015, is the South Sudan Council of Churches’ Action Plan for Peace (APP).

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