Shoutbox » What is peace?

The current discourse on Southern Sudan tends to depict it as place sliding into a humanitarian catastrophe and plagued by ethnic violence. At a talk given by Lise Grande, UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator at the London School of Economics (LSE) in September 2009, she described the situation in Southern Sudan as a "humanitarian perfect storm" waiting to happen. The map at the UN base in Juba, Southern Sudan, used for security briefings is peppered with luminous stars which stand for 'Tribal Clashes'. One could be forgiven for thinking that, despite signing a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) with the Government of Sudan, Southern Sudanese have yet to enjoy anything that resembles peace.

But what do we define as peace? In response to the question 'When was Southern Sudan at peace?', 74% (n=93) named one or all of the years since the signing of the peace agreement. All of the respondents were older than 40 and could remember a time before the war. Despite this, the years from 2005 to 2009 were perceived as the time when Southern Sudanese experienced peace. Drawings by school children tell a similar story (see below). We asked kids to draw their life before and after the peace agreement. While there were several pictures which depicted violence after the peace agreement, the majority of the pictures are striking in the contrast between the brutal images from during the war to images of affection, order and celebration after the signing of the peace agreement.

While drawing attention to the continuing problems in Southern Sudan is commendable, depicting the situation in terms of humanitarian storms and tribal clashes not only depoliticises the problems but also increases the chances that Southern Sudan will be written off as yet another African basket-case. There are many narratives being shared by Southern Sudanese, however a dominant narrative is that they have achieved peace. They decry the continuing developmental problems that stem from a weak state but the majority are sure of one thing: the agreement signed in 2005 ushered in a period of what they describe as 'peace'.


Life before the CPA, by Emanual Adouk Otur, Kodok, Upper Nile


Life before the CPA, by Atong Lual Makuc, Western Bahr el Ghazal


Before the CPA, by Joseph Aiteng Luta, Eastern Equatoria


Life after the CPA, by Sidat Lingolango Lomucu, Eastern Equatoria


Life after CPA, Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal


Life after CPA, Torit

Posted By aoifemc on Tuesday 9th February 2010 a 08:25pm

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