The core argument of this paper is that it is possible to engage in meaningful peacebuilding and reconciliation activities in South Sudan, despite the many complexities and tensions. However, serious re-thinking is required to develop and design more strategic and context-sensitive approaches. Consideration of the tensions raised here, and devising methodologies to manage them that accurately reflect the complexities of the context and of action within it, will help. All actors, whatever their role, position…
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CSRF Research Repository
The CSRF Research Repository aims to support greater contextual knowledge for policy makers, programme managers, and implementers by providing a searchable repository of research, analysis, and resources, and providing periodic updates on new research and analysis.
The horrific violations committed in South Sudan’s civil war led to the establishment of mechanisms ensuring the prosecution of serious crimes and reconciliation within communities shattered by war. Through a peace deal, three mutually supportive but independent institutions of transitional justice were formed: The Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing, The Hybrid Court for South Sudan and The Compensation and Reparation Authority. This article examines the extent to which these mechanisms can achieve their respective…
There is a regular echo of consensus that South Sudan’s agenda for reconciliation needs to be indigenous to the country and based on the particularity of the experience here. Yet, there is no digestable synthesis of the lessons learned or reflection among key actors as to how lessons from the earlier national-level processes could be integrated into the structures foreshadowed in the R- ARCISS. The Peacebuilding Opportunities Fund is pursuing elsewhere in its programme of…
In 2013, two years after South Sudan’s formation as the world’s newest nation, a costly civil war erupted that has ensnared the South Sudanese people and the nation’s developmental and consolidation process for more than five years. The article explores the current conflict against its historical backdrop, proposing a greater role for religious leaders in the peace and reconciliation processes. It draws upon original interview data generated in 2018 from dozens of South Sudanese informants…
South Sudan’s Initial transitional justice planning processes sought to engage communities on roles and viabilities of local justice in supporting transitional justice initiatives and mechanisms prescribed in the August 2015 Agreement. Nonetheless, the planning processes hit a snag, when the conflict reignited in July 2016. The working paper pursues the discussion about the role that local and indigenous reconciliation and justice processes can play in current transitional justice discourses and contends that existing practices and…
LSE’s Naomi Pendle paints an informative and insightful portrait of the challenges of reconciliation in South Sudan. Download
Remarks on the role of church leaders as peace builders in South Sudan on the annual conference of the American Friends of the Eiscopal Church of the Sudans, October 21, 2016.
This report investigates people’s perceptions and experiences of truth, justice and reconciliation in relation to the past and present conflicts in South Sudan. The main data-collection was undertaken by means of a survey, for which 1,912 respondents were interviewed in November and early December 2015 in Juba town, Juba Protection of Civilian site (POC), Wau town and Bentiu POC. Qualitative information was gathered during subsequent interviews and workshops aimed at sharing, fine-tuning and verification of…
This policy brief presents the results of the conference “South Sudan: Justice and Reconciliation in a Divided Country” in Nairobi, Kenya on September 27, 2016 and the Hague, The Netherlands on 4th October 2016. The conference discussed the findings of the research project “Intersections of Truth, Justice and Reconciliation in South Sudan.” Download
The following short sections point at some aspects of spear masters and their role in mechanisms of conflict resolution/reconciliation in South Sudan. The document has a focus on spear masters and Dinka communities. However, important aspects are similar/relevant also in other communities. Link to publication
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