ACCORD, under its Sudan Conflict Transformation Initiative, held a three-day Peacebuilding Forum in Juba, South Sudan from 10-12 August 2011. The Forum sought to provide a platform for sharing on current and emerging issues in South Sudan, to explore avenues for coherence and collaboration amongst the various peacebuilding stakeholders, and to make recommendations on the way forward for South Sudan.
Representatives from the African Union, civil society, government, international organisations and the United Nations were brought together for presentations and discussions that aimed to enhance participants’ knowledge on pertinent issues including: decentralisation/centralisation, regional dynamics, relationships between North and South Sudan, and the question of citizenship.
Several recommendations emerged from the meeting, and included: a need for increased local ownership to make peacebuilding activities sustainable; attention on the issue of ethnicity, particularly in relation to power dynamics in South Sudan; the need to strengthen civil society; that opportunities be identified for cooperation between North and South Sudan; the vital need to address security concerns; and, most importantly, the importance of identifying economic development ventures beyond oil.
In September and October, ACCORD will implement peacebuilding activities in Malakal and Wau, in South Sudan.
