This briefing – based on an inter-county dialogue Saferworld held in Kuajok last year – explores conflict, peace, security and gender-based violence concerns in Warrap State. Specifically, the briefing identifies several factors causing insecurity in Warrap state, including the proliferation of small arms, conflicts over grazing and water, cattle raiding, among others, with heavy toll on women in terms of gender-based violence and mental health. Finally, the briefing also offers a series of recommendation to…

This policy brief presents the headline findings about citizens’ perceptions of security and governance from a survey of South Sudanese respondents in 2021-2022. Respondents shared their views on a range of governance topics, from power sharing to the implications of army unification. Respondents who were otherwise divided about how the government should rule rallied around the value of government accountability. Respondents also voiced overwhelming support for parliamentary input to presidential decision making. These findings underline…

In this brief Saferworld provides a context update about the current situation in the town of Bentiu – the capital of the oil-rich Unity state. Saferworld presents safety and security challenges identified by communities, authorities and civil society such as revenge killings, cattle raiding, gender-based violence, environmental pollution and unemployment in Bentiu town and Protection of Civilian (PoC) site. Saferworld also provides recommendations for how best to address these challenges for all levels of government and communities to consider. Download

In this brief Saferworld provides a context update about the current situation in Maridi – one of eight counties in Western Equatoria in South Sudan. Saferworld presents safety and security challenges for communities, local government, sub-national and national governments as well as the international community to consider and we provide recommendations for how best to address these challenges. Download

Introduction Communal violence has attracted both research and policy attention in recent years. Global developments, such as climate change and its aggravating effects on farmer-herder conflicts in Nigeria, election violence in India and Kenya, or attempts by UN peacekeepers to protect civilians from attacks by communal militias in Mali and South Sudan have brought such violence to our attention and illustrate the death and destruction such conflicts can cause and the need to better address…

The R-ARCSS was designed as an all-encompassing package of measures that would help end the civil war in South Sudan. Yet, in reality it does not efficiently address some of the root causes of the conflict. More than addressing those in a manner that connects both bottom-up and top-down drivers of tension, it focuses on elements of a power-sharing agreement and paves the way for resource sharing arrangements. This brief examines how and why grievances…

Five years into South Sudan’s civil war, the main belligerents have once again agreed to stop fighting and form a unity government. But the set of agreements, finalised on 12 September 2018, two years after the last accord collapsed, does not end the country’s deep crisis. It neither resolves the power struggle between President Salva Kiir and erstwhile rebel leader Riek Machar nor outlines a final political settlement for the country. Rather, it establishes 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…

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

The ‘If You are Safe, I am Safe’ strategy for South Sudan proposes to turn the desire for safety from a competitive conflict-causing endeavour to a co-operative peace-building endeavour.  Aimed initially at promoting peace between communities, it envisages an active role for both local administration and central government.  To do so there must be an understanding of the factors driving conflict, as well as those factors supporting reconciliation.

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