Church and Peacebuilding in South Sudan

[John Ashworth]

Here are two academic articles on the Church and Peacebuilding in
South Sudan. The second is attached; the first is far too large to
send as an atatchment but I give a link to it.

1. "Paths to peacebuilding and reconciliation in South Sudan: Patterns
of cooperation between the churches, African Indigenous religions, and
the State" by Malith Kur, 2025.

Abstract

Post-colonial projects of nation-state building in Africa have been
plagued by complex pressures and conflicts, which seem to have been
exacerbated in the recent history of South Sudan, its newest
state.This dissertation offers a unique perspective on the role of
churches in the journey to South Sudan’s national independence and
post-independence nation-state formation. It draws on a comprehensive
analytical framework rooted in African reconciliation studies,
specifically focusing on the interactions between South Sudanese
churches and indigenous traditions. The dissertation delves into the
challenges and opportunities of fostering cooperation between the
state, churches, and indigenous religious groups for peacebuilding,
reconciliation, and the social reconstruction of South Sudan. It
presents a series of case studies to illustrate the dynamics of these
interactions, highlighting both successes and failures in the
churches' peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts.This study begins
by examining how Muslim and Christian colonialism have influenced the
past and current conflicts in South Sudan. It then explores the
complex roles of colonial and post-colonial Indigenous prophetic
traditions in shaping South Sudanese religious cultures and how
prophetic figures have responded to the cycles of violence that have
marked the colonial and post-colonial eras. Significant attention has
been given to the peacebuilding and reconciliation work of the New
Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC) during the conflicts leading to
independence. The dissertation examines the patterns of cooperation
between the Christian churches and indigenous religious institutions
in the pre-independence period that contributed to the productive
process that led to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. I
argue that the shifting approaches of the church stakeholders to
peacebuilding and reconciliation during the post-independence period
have failed to build on these earlier efforts. These changing
approaches have also made little or no constructive impact on the
current situation. One exception to this pattern was the Kuron Peace
Village Project spearheaded by Bishop Paride Taban, a pivotal church
leader in the pre-independence work of the NSCC. This initiative
brought relative peace to the Eastern Equatoria region, a site of
significant ethnic conflict. It also offers a fundamental
recalibration of the role of churches that shifts away from a focus on
political stakeholders in nation-state building to more direct
engagement with local indigenous contexts. Reflecting on the successes
and failures of the peace efforts in South Sudan, the final chapter
concludes with an exploration of unmapped paths for peacebuilding and
reconciliation at the intersection of indigenous and Christian
traditions in the peacebuilding process in South Sudan.

https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/rx913w598?locale=en

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2. "The Role of Kuron Peace Village in Promoting Social Cohesion and
Peaceful Co-existence in South Sudan" by Sebastian Angu, 2021.

Abstract

Peaceis a fundamental component of community development, personal
growth, and survival of our planet. At the heart of every faith
community, and culture, lies a need to advancepeaceful co-existenceto
enhance productive, meaningful lives and sustainablesocieties;
participation and inclusion can also start from the point of
understanding a conflict, from conflict analysis. Since the
independence of Sudan in 1956, South Sudan has been in war, till 2005
when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed between Sudan
government and Sudan People Liberation Army and Movement (SPLAM).
Subsequently, that led to the independent of South Sudan from Sudan
Government in 2011. However, the war broke again in 2013 within the
SPLAM. Compounding the human tragedy and narrowing the prospects for
its peaceful resolution, the government’s military and security
approach to the crisis has severely restricted space for civic
engagement. South Sudan is one of the world’s least-free countries,
where overdue national elections have yet to be held, and the
incumbent leadership has presided over rampant corruption, economic
collapse, and atrocitiesagainst civilians, journalistsand aid workers.
Humanity desires a peaceful environment and mutual coexistence, but in
South Sudan, this is not the case where people still experience
conflicts, which drives thousands into exile in refugee camps in
Kenya, Uganda, and around the globe. The purpose of this study was to
determine the role of Kuron Peace Village in promoting socialcohesion
and peaceful co-existence in South Sudan. The study was a literature
based, in which relevant literature wasinterrogatedto derive study
themes. The study found that Bishop Taban is a living example of
promoter of coexistence in South Sudan through hisefforts to unite the
population in the area and set an example of peaceful coexistence in
war-torn South Sudan. The study also found that the Kuron peace
village built a culture of mutual respect among the warring
communities in Kuron and by building a culture of mutual respect it
was then possible to overcome tribal divisions and build a new
national identity. It was also essential to foster a culture of
dialogue to avoid cycles of revenge and animosity. There had been
progress towards this before the current crisis, and now perhaps there
is an opportunity to start building programmes for the future once
more. The study therefore concluded that the establishment of Kuron
peace village, brought with it opportunities for the local communities
as a few dozenpeople from different origins were now able to work in
the health centre and primary school which were set up with the help
of the Bishop. The study also concludes that the peace village was
playing a big role in enabling the local communities to engage new
modes of agricultural production, and were engaged inpeacebuilding,
together with the local community which was not possible before the
peace village was initiated.

https://stratfordjournalpublishers.org/journals/index.php/Journal-of-Sociology-Psychology/article/view/783/913

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______________________
John Ashworth

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