Christian religious leaders of South Sudan met Pope Francis in Rome last week. The participants of the meeting underlined that the forgiveness and acceptance of the other is the path to building peace, and to human and social development in the war-torn country.
The situation in South Sudan is rapidly shifting from bad to worse and getting out of hands for both conflict parties. Peace remains elusive and the United Nations warns of increasing violence. In September, tens of thousands of people were internally displaced, and almost 3,000 people a day fled across the border to Uganda.
“South Sudan’s fragility has been exacerbated by the devastating return of widespread violence, callous, criminality and systematic disregard for human life, and a toxic breakdown of national identity and the country’s social fabric” says FCA’s country manager Pio Ding in Juba.
“In this context of despair, the visit was an opportunity for the Church leaders to leverage their influence as key moral stakeholders working and promoting the attainment of sustainable peace in South Sudan.”
The meeting with the Pope was attended by the four heads of the churches that FCA works closely with in peace efforts for South Sudan. The meeting was a chance to demonstrate the unity of purpose of the churches in South Sudan as well as to create a rare glimpse of hope in a fragile country.
Father James Oyet Latasio was one of the delegation members to meet the Pope. Peace is the only alternative. We must build this country together, and church can act as a tool of unification. Forgiveness is the walls of our church and reconciliation is its roof”, Latansio has said.
“When the delegation returned to the airport in Juba on Monday, it was met with a large welcoming committee and an enthusiastic crowd who wanted to hear the Pope’s message. People are looking for signs of hope in the midst of a deteriorating situation and this visit was certainly a very positive and powerful one”, says Marie Makweri, FCA’s peace officer.
Hopefully, there will be a chance to continue the discussion. During the meeting, church leaders invited the Pope to visit South Sudan. Both Pio Ding and Marie Makweri very much welcome the initiative.
“It would show to the many South Sudanese, who are living in extremely difficult circumstances, and are suffering enormously from the ongoing conflict, that the rest of the world is still standing in solidarity with them, and supporting peace initiatives”, Makweri says.
“No matter how difficult the situation may look like, it is important to maintain the hope that peace can be attained.”
The delegation to Vatican included the main Christian religious leaders of South Sudan: Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Juba (Roman Catholic Church), Archbishop Dr Daniel Deng Bul Yak, Archbishop and Primate of the Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan (ECSS/S), Rev Moderator Peter Gai Lual Marrow, Chairman of the South Sudan Council of Churches and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan and Father James Oyet Latansio, General Secretary of the South Sudan Council of Churches.
Text: Satu Helin
Finn Church Aid (FCA) begins humanitarian assistance in South Sudan’s capital Juba, where fighting broke out again last weekend. The 100,000 euros appropriated from FCA’s disaster fund will be allocated to food and water distribution. The work begins immediately.
Thousands of people, most of them women and children, have sought refuge in churches in Juba. Many have spent days inside church buildings without food and water, and have yet to receive any humanitarian assistance. The South Sudanese Council of Churches has petitioned organisations to provide immediate emergency relief.
FCA’s emergency relief will target 8,000 IDPs on three church premises. The allocated sum will be used to distribute water, food and other necessities. Relief will be provided in cooperation with the South Sudanese Council of Churches, the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church.
Unrest in Juba and surrounding areas continues for the fifth day despite a ceasefire declared on Monday evening. At least one hundred people have died. According to the UN, 36,000 people have been forced to flee the fighting in the capital.
In June, South Sudan was listed as the second most fragile state in the world behind Somalia. Re-erupted fighting will deliver a heavy blow to the basic living conditions of Sudanese people who are already suffering from poverty, illiteracy and violence. They will be dependent on outside assistance for a long time.
FCA is one of the very few Finnish organisations currently operating in South Sudan and in collaboration with the South Sudanese Council of Churches has strived to build peace in the country that is weighed down by ethnic and political conflict. In 2015, FCA also constructed 35 temporary schools, and secured access to education for 1,800 refugees in South Sudan.
Further information:
Marie Makweri (Nairobi), Peacebuilding Officer, tel. +254 795 901 262 or +358 4057 14211
Satu Helin, Reporter, tel. +35840 630 8133
Help IDPs in South Sudan by donating
Donations account: Nordea IBAN FI33 1572 3000 5005 04
Please add the message “South Sudan” to your donations.
Violence has intensified in South Sudan’s capital Juba over the weekend. Finn Church Aid’s (FCA) experts fear the country is in risk of sliding into a new civil war. FCA’s office in Juba has been closed. Work elsewhere in the country continues.
On Monday, different news outlets reported nearly 300 dead in the fighting.
“Most likely the number of victim is much larger than what the international media has reported. Heavy weapons and armoured vehicles are now used in the fighting”, says Mika Jokivuori, FCA Regional Representative for East and Southern Africa.
“The streets were full of heavily armed soldiers and civilians and there were checkpoints everywhere. The situation was extremely tense”, reported FCA’s Peacebuilding Officer Marie Makweri from Juba on Friday.
“The airport was completely full, a large portion of the local elite were exiting the country as well. There were also many women, families and unaccompanied children.”
Over the weekend, thousands sought refuge in churches and UN bases. On Monday, the airport in Juba was closed and phone lines were cutting off.
“This conflict means that rebuilding infrastructure and organising education take huge steps backward. Ordinary people suffer the most. Despite various difficulties, a lot of good has been achieved in South Sudan over the past few years”, says Jokivuori.
President Salva Kiir and Vice-president Riek Machar have been fighting for power since the signing of the previous peace treaty in August 2015, and South Sudan’s fifth Independence Day on Saturday might have caused violence to re-erupt.
On Monday evening, a ceasefire was reached and will hopefully lead to the return of peaceful conditions.
FCA’s work outside the capital city continues for the time being.
ACT Alliance Forum South Sudan launches the EU Aid Volunteers Capacity Programme, a training for local organisations working with vulnerable communities.
Juba. “South Sudan is prone to protracted man-made and natural disasters ranging from chronic conflict to drought, floods, diseases and famine. Both local and national actors face challenges in their humanitarian response”, ACT Forum South Sudan Coordinator Mr. Omodii Alex Gupirii describes the situation of the newest and one of the poorest countries in the world.
The UN has recently warned that up to 5 million people are facing severe food shortage this summer, a situation which is made worse by the humanitarian funding shortages in the country.
“Recognizing the role of local actors in humanitarian response creates value in terms of efficiency and connectedness with the affected communities. Strengthening their capacity is fundamental”, said Mr. Gupirii at the launching event in the capital Juba.
The training consists of approaches for reducing disaster risks, working on Emergency Preparedness and strengthening knowledge and understanding of Humanitarian Principles and Standards.
“As ACT Alliance, we believe in capacity development of our members and partners to enhance their ability to achieve to achieve our common goal – Full Life & Dignity for All.”
“This project aims to build humanitarian capacities and increase leadership of our local and national partners who are in the front-line of constant humanitarian and emergency operations in this disaster prone country. We truly acknowledge that investing in local capacities will significantly enhance disaster risk reduction as power is through local action”, Mr. Gupirii says.
This year, ACT Alliance consortium of ten members trains local organisations in altogether eight countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Nepal, Uganda and South Sudan.
The trainings are funded through the Capacity Building Programme of the EU Aid Volunteers initiative. The work is part of the 2014–2020 European Commission’s Humanitarian aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) initiative called EU Aid Volunteers, bringing together organisations from different countries and strengthening the local capacity of disaster-affected communities.
The severe tensions that surfaced in Pibor, South Sudan, at the end of December 2015 have erupted into violent attacks and heavy fighting in February 2016. Finn Church Aid’s (FCA) work in the area has been suspended for the time being, and the local staff has been evacuated to the capital Juba.
At least 2,000 people are seeking refuge at the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site of the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Many more have fled to the bush, too, after several civilians were killed, their homes and possessions looted and burned. The local hospital was also destroyed, and the county market was set on fire.
The violence stems from political tensions between the newly appointed local leadership, and an armed group loyal to the former leader of the area, and their respective supporters.
“For the time being, Finn Church Aid staff is working out of the capital Juba. Our office in Pibor and the accommodation spaces of our staff were looted and destroyed completely, but thankfully our staff is fine”, says Pio Ding, FCA’s Country Manager for South Sudan.
“Unfortunately, the events in Pibor reflect the broader situation in the country, and the future of the area is closely intertwined with the broader conflict between the government and the opposition. Despite the peace agreement being signed in August 2015, civilians continue to be killed and suffer from displacement, and live in insecure and inhumane conditions. For example, in Malakal, in the Upper Nile, the UN PoC site was attacked and at least 18 people who were seeking safety were killed and over 40 people injured”, says Ding.
South Sudan was classified as the most fragile state in the world in 2015. Increasing numbers of refugees and internally displaced people are fleeing their homes, and the country faces drastically increasing humanitarian needs as the rainy season approaches.
In the Pibor area, FCA implements peace building activities through facilitated dialogues, reconciliation and vocational training. FCA also supports the education of internally displaced children through an Education-in-Emergencies programme funded by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
In South Sudan, FCA supports the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) in their nation-wide peace building efforts. The churches have played an important role in reconciliation and contributed, for their part, in a peace agreement being signed after over one and a half years of civil war in August 2015.
FCA will resume its work as soon as the situation calms down and the fighting ends.
Further information:
Pio Ding, Country Manager, South Sudan, Finn Church Aid, pio.ding (at) kua.fi
Marie Makweri, Peacebuilding Officer, South Sudan, Finn Church Aid, marie.makweri (at) kua.fi
Request for interviews through Communications Officer Minna Elo tel. +358 50 3309747, minna.elo(at) kua.fi
When coming back to South Sudan capital Juba, the big contrasts of Sub-Saharan Africa come to mind: New buildings combined with capital city areas that are barely accessible by road, luxury goods in the supermarket, where sweets from Europe might be as expensive as a meal in an average European city. All of this while many parts of the country are dependent on food aid. This midsize capital makes you wonder: where are you going South Sudan?
We drive by the ‘Peace Hospital’, numerous signs of peacebuilding councils and the next we see a driving school with the appropriate name “End time driving school”.
End time in Juba – while everyone is in search of peace, in the many parts of the country violent conflict continues; Peace talks in Addis Ababa and elsewhere keep some hope in the air, meanwhile elsewhere there is worry that too many ex-combatants, unsolved recent conflicts, as well as long-term historical differences, idle unemployed youth and political aspirations make the situation worse once more.
We are passing by a small mountain of trash, with many goats rummaging through it to find some food. Nobody here finds food easily. Yet, it is not the unfertile ground that makes it difficult to produce food, it is the people, and the conflict between people on so many levels that makes it difficult to grow food, to transport it, to sell it, to buy it.
And while my colleagues and I work on transforming the conflict to a level that people can at least coexist, at least live as neighbors somehow, we go back to the most essential question: What does peace mean for you, for your tribe, your religion, your family?
Arriving in the office, planning our work in different parts of the country, we are told one important answer as a starting point: The Toposa people in Eastern Equatoria and Jonglei, for example, do not have a word for a foreigner. They only have the word ‘enemy’. The closest you can get in relationship to this tribe is to become “my friend who is my enemy”.
The phone rings: other colleagues travel on a UN flight. Today they did not reach communities to talk with them. The plane needed to come back without landing because the intended runway was in too bad shape after the rain to land.
Almost not accessible. But not entirely: In a couple of days my colleagues will try once again. And perhaps they find more ‘enemies’ who could become ‘our friends who are our enemies’.
The writer is a Senior Advisor for Right to Peace in Finn Church Aid
Twitter: @sinnwahn