There is an initiative underway to collect the guns that have proliferated in Jonglei and there are plans for a buffer zone between the Lou Nuer and the Murle to help transition to peace.
Deng Bul says, "It is important for all citizens not to carry arms because the arms are tempting [people] to unnecessary actions. If we want to have development in Jonglei, we must make sure that everybody is not carrying a gun.”
South Sudan desperately needs its own peacemakers before it’s too late. The internal and external conflict has harmed the region's food supply. Drought has also struck. These two elements, combined with preexisting poverty, are creating a hunger crisis approaching famine. The UN World Food Programme, which relies on voluntary funding, says nearly five million people in South Sudan are suffering from hunger. Food is desperately needed to reinforce the peace process.
South Sudan needs the United States and others to stay with them during these rough waters as it tries to build a road to peace.
As we mark the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, students and other citizens can take time to reflect on the peace with Britain that emerged from the ashes. This learning adventure in American history can also offer a way for students and others to connect with South Sudan. How can this newly independent nation build their own road to peace?
For what the governor of Ohio, Thomas Worthington, proclaimed after the War of 1812 rings true. Worthington said we must seek the day “when bloody wars engendered in pride and wickedness, and prosecuted in fury and unrighteousness, shall forever cease, and when every human being, in the true spirit of humanity, meekness and charity,shall do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with his God.”
Article comments
1 - Anton Chaitkin
The War of 1812 comparison is a fraud. The British-sponsored breakup of Sudan and other aspiring nations is like the British attempt to split the USA during that War of 1812, under the pretext of Boston Anglophiles that Presidents Jefferson and Madison were "violating their rights" by defying the British empire.