What peace and Whose? - Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
What peace and Whose? - Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre What peace and Whose? - Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
8 International Alert1. IntroductionWhat is peace in South Sudan and Sudan? What peace is there, and whom does it serve? Howmight it be made better; for example, be made more comprehensive, more stable and more lasting?Such questions are fundamental to the future of the two Sudans, and there are strong reasonsfor asking those questions. Despite the six-year Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and thesecession of South Sudan in 2011, peace in South Sudan and Sudan remains fragile. Violence andviolent conflict have continued to occur, and risks and fears of future conflict have not faded. Thisis true in each country, and it is true about present and future relations between the two countries.With the belief that a more stable and more comprehensive peace is possible, this paper exploressome profound questions about peace and peacebuilding in South Sudan and Sudan. The paper doesnot prescribe answers, nor does it aim to be exhaustive: building peace is a process, and ultimatelyit is the people of South Sudan and Sudan who will or will not build a more peaceful future for theircountries, their children and future generations. However, by asking questions and looking at someways in which peace and peacebuilding can be understood and pursued, this paper hopes to foster andcontribute to debate within and between South Sudan and Sudan about what can and should be doneto reduce the risk and incidence of violent conflict, and to strengthen peace.Underpinning the paper’s aims, and the analysis and arguments it contains, is the concept ofpositive peace as understood by International Alert. This is a concept of peace as a dynamicstate within which conflicts and differences are managed peacefully, without violence, rather thanneglected or suppressed. In line with this concept, the paper uses a framework of five fundamentalfactors of conflict and peace in order to explore the present nature of peace in South Sudan andSudan and future possibilities. These factors are:• Power: how power is held and used;• Economy: how the economy is structured and who benefits;• Fairness: how fair and effective are the law and its implementation;• Safety: the degree to which people feel or are safe;• Well-being: the quality of people’s lives.These factors are interconnected and, in one guise or another, they underlie most violent conflictsand examples of peace around the world. Considering these factors can help in answeringquestions about how peace should be defined and what kind of peace should be aimed for.International Alert (hereafter Alert), an international peacebuilding organisation, has been researchingSouth Sudan and Sudan from a peacebuilding perspective since 2006. During this time Alert hasobserved that peacemaking and peacebuilding efforts in the now two countries have recurrentlysuffered from the lack of a consistent peacebuilding framework. This shortcoming has in part beenbecause those involved in peacemaking and peacebuilding have tended to be constrained by politicalcircumstances and mandate, and take a too-narrow view. Alert has therefore published this shortpaper to illustrate how a coherent peace and peacebuilding framework might be used.Conflict and peace in South Sudan and SudanConflict in South Sudan and Sudan occurs at national, sub-national and local levels. After theformal end of the civil war in 2005, Sudanese and international concern about peace in Sudanwas concentrated on the CPA and the technicalities of its implementation and, to a lesser extent,
What peace and whose?9on the Darfur conflict and the various unsuccessful attempts to formally end the conflict. As alandmark peace agreement which brought formal peace, the CPA needed close attention, bothdomestically and internationally. However, the focus on the CPA also led to a preoccupationwith short-term targets and deadlines, and a lack of attention to deeper, longer-term issuesand problems which are themselves underlying drivers of discontent and conflict within eachcountry as well as between them. Essentially the CPA was a high-level political and militaryagreement, which did little to mitigate feelings among many people about issues such asinequality, discrimination, injustice, impunity and corruption – issues connected to the fivemain factors of conflict listed above. Thus, although the CPA brought some peace, it is alsotrue that it did not build peace comprehensively. It was comprehensive neither geographicallynor in which factors of conflict it addressed.Since the end of the CPA in July 2011 and the secession of South Sudan, peace in the two Sudanshas not suddenly become stronger or deeper. On the contrary, regardless of the arrangementswhich are meant to provide for peace between the two countries in this post-CPA period, thosefactors of conflict which have not been addressed since 2005 (and before) remain present andcontinue to pose a threat to future peace and stability in and between both countries. The list offactors is long, but however they are categorised or discussed, many of them are familiar to peoplefrom across the two countries, as Table 1 shows.Table 1: Some factors blocking progress in peace in South Sudan and SudanIssueDemocracyDiscriminationImpunityInequalityEconomicdiscontentLack ofreconciliationOilCorruptionPatronageIdentityIdeologyExample or illustrationElections are not seen to be free and fair, contributing to perceptions thatgovernments are not representative, and encouraging rebellions against themPeople feel that there is ethnic favouritism in government, in private sectoremployment opportunities and in access to services; minority ethnic groups feelmarginalised and disadvantagedPerpetrators of violence and abuses are seen to go unpunished, encouragingpeople to pursue retributive and retaliatory violence, and encouraging cynicismabout the political and judicial systemsGap between rich and poor is seen to have widened and access to wealth is seenas linked to aspects of identity such as tribe, geographic location and genderDiscontent about unequal regional economic and infrastructure development,which can encourage demands for regional self-determinationHistorical grievances, suspicions and mistrust between communities are notaddressed, contributing to ongoing animosityCommunities feel that the negative impact of oil exploration and production isinsufficiently addressed and local benefits are too fewPerceptions that corruption goes unpunished undermine public confidence in andsupport for central and local governmentExpectations of patronage conflict with expectations of equity and equalopportunityCompeting claims about local or regional identity lead to conflict and violence, forexample over land rights and ownershipPerceived attempts to implement a particular ideology (for example relatedto national or religious identity) are sometimes inflammatory and opposed bysections of the population
- Page 5: What peace and whose?3Table of cont
- Page 8 and 9: 6 International AlertExecutive summ
- Page 12 and 13: 10 International AlertLeadershipMis
- Page 14: 12 International AlertEconomyFairne
- Page 17 and 18: What peace and whose?15Table 3: Som
- Page 19 and 20: What peace and whose?173. Future pe
- Page 21 and 22: What peace and whose?19subsequent d
- Page 23 and 24: What peace and whose?21Box 5: Diffe
- Page 25 and 26: What peace and whose?23framed aroun
- Page 28: International Alert.346 Clapham Roa
8 International Alert1. Introduction<strong>What</strong> is <strong>peace</strong> in South Sudan <strong>and</strong> Sudan? <strong>What</strong> <strong>peace</strong> is there, <strong>and</strong> whom does it serve? Howmight it be made better; for example, be made more comprehensive, more stable <strong>and</strong> more lasting?Such questions are fundamental to the future of the two Sudans, <strong>and</strong> there are strong reasonsfor asking those questions. Despite the six-year Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) <strong>and</strong> thesecession of South Sudan in 2011, <strong>peace</strong> in South Sudan <strong>and</strong> Sudan remains fragile. Violence <strong>and</strong>violent conflict have continued to occur, <strong>and</strong> risks <strong>and</strong> fears of future conflict have not faded. Thisis true in each country, <strong>and</strong> it is true about present <strong>and</strong> future relations between the two countries.With the belief that a more stable <strong>and</strong> more comprehensive <strong>peace</strong> is possible, this paper exploressome profound questions about <strong>peace</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>peace</strong>building in South Sudan <strong>and</strong> Sudan. The paper doesnot prescribe answers, nor does it aim to be exhaustive: building <strong>peace</strong> is a process, <strong>and</strong> ultimatelyit is the people of South Sudan <strong>and</strong> Sudan who will or will not build a more <strong>peace</strong>ful future for theircountries, their children <strong>and</strong> future generations. However, by asking questions <strong>and</strong> looking at someways in which <strong>peace</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>peace</strong>building can be understood <strong>and</strong> pursued, this paper hopes to foster <strong>and</strong>contribute to debate within <strong>and</strong> between South Sudan <strong>and</strong> Sudan about what can <strong>and</strong> should be doneto reduce the risk <strong>and</strong> incidence of violent conflict, <strong>and</strong> to strengthen <strong>peace</strong>.Underpinning the paper’s aims, <strong>and</strong> the analysis <strong>and</strong> arguments it contains, is the concept ofpositive <strong>peace</strong> as understood by International Alert. This is a concept of <strong>peace</strong> as a dynamicstate within which conflicts <strong>and</strong> differences are managed <strong>peace</strong>fully, without violence, rather thanneglected or suppressed. In line with this concept, the paper uses a framework of five fundamentalfactors of conflict <strong>and</strong> <strong>peace</strong> in order to explore the present nature of <strong>peace</strong> in South Sudan <strong>and</strong>Sudan <strong>and</strong> future possibilities. These factors are:• Power: how power is held <strong>and</strong> used;• Economy: how the economy is structured <strong>and</strong> who benefits;• Fairness: how fair <strong>and</strong> effective are the law <strong>and</strong> its implementation;• Safety: the degree to which people feel or are safe;• Well-being: the quality of people’s lives.These factors are interconnected <strong>and</strong>, in one guise or another, they underlie most violent conflicts<strong>and</strong> examples of <strong>peace</strong> around the world. Considering these factors can help in answeringquestions about how <strong>peace</strong> should be defined <strong>and</strong> what kind of <strong>peace</strong> should be aimed for.International Alert (hereafter Alert), an international <strong>peace</strong>building organisation, has been researchingSouth Sudan <strong>and</strong> Sudan from a <strong>peace</strong>building perspective since 2006. During this time Alert hasobserved that <strong>peace</strong>making <strong>and</strong> <strong>peace</strong>building efforts in the now two countries have recurrentlysuffered from the lack of a consistent <strong>peace</strong>building framework. This shortcoming has in part beenbecause those involved in <strong>peace</strong>making <strong>and</strong> <strong>peace</strong>building have tended to be constrained by politicalcircumstances <strong>and</strong> m<strong>and</strong>ate, <strong>and</strong> take a too-narrow view. Alert has therefore published this shortpaper to illustrate how a coherent <strong>peace</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>peace</strong>building framework might be used.Conflict <strong>and</strong> <strong>peace</strong> in South Sudan <strong>and</strong> SudanConflict in South Sudan <strong>and</strong> Sudan occurs at national, sub-national <strong>and</strong> local levels. After theformal end of the civil war in 2005, Sudanese <strong>and</strong> international concern about <strong>peace</strong> in Sudanwas concentrated on the CPA <strong>and</strong> the technicalities of its implementation <strong>and</strong>, to a lesser extent,
Change language