EASTERN EQUATORIA - “We have lived our entire lives without knowing much about the peace process in our country. We need more sensitization at the grassroots, especially for youth, women, and traditional leaders,” said Koma James, chief of Nimule payam [administrative division] in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria state.

Mr. James was speaking on behalf of 40 community leaders, civil society representatives, women and young people who were participating in a workshop on the Revitalized Peace Agreement, especially transitional justice provisions contained in Chapter 5 of this vital document, which seeks to promote accountability and provide reparation to citizens who lived through the dark days of civil war in this young nation.

For most, it is their first encounter with the 2018 peace deal, that established a transitional government of national unity.

“We have experienced loss of lives and properties in the series of conflicts that displaced thousands of our people in Nimule, revealed Angu Abdallah, chief of Melijo village, an area severely impacted by violence between nomadic cattle herders and settled farming communities. “Now, all we want is that justice institutions can compensate our people.”

The two-day forum was facilitated by members of the South Sudan Law Society and Transitional Working Group in Eastern Equatoria with support from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan’s (UNMISS) Human Rights Division.

It’s focus: Enabling participants from Pageri, Nimule and Mugali payams to understand basic concepts of transitional justice as well as the role of key institutions such as the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing; the Compensation Reparation Authority and hybrid courts, in supporting conflict survivors across South Sudan.

“Participants have made repeated calls for UNMISS to hold more trainings on the Peace Agreement at the grassroots prior to national elections in December 2024, so that people can take informed decisions at the polls,” explained Emmanuel Orema, a workshop facilitator and member of Eastern Equatoria’s Transitional Justice Working Group.

For her part, Alice Nassaka, a Human Rights Officer serving with the UN Peacekeeping mission reassured participants that they would continue to update communities across the country on the ongoing peace process.

“I’d like to assure everyone that compensation and reparation are ongoing processes, and we hope every citizen who has suffered the brutal consequences of will receive the justice they so richly deserve. But the critical need of the hour is for communities themselves to embrace reconciliation,” averred Ms. Nassaka.

UNMISS Human Rights Division engages consistently with South Sudanese stakeholders and communities to build capacity and create awareness on international human rights and international humanitarian law.