Peace and reconciliation initiatives begin in Jonglei

14 October, 2011– In a bid to bring peace and reconciliation between the warring Murle and Luo Nuer communities, government and church officials in Jonglei State will begin separate peace building meetings with the warring tribes on 15 October.

Peace and reconciliation conferences will then be held in Pibor County for the Murle community and in Wuror County for the Lou Nuers.

The peace efforts will culminate in a reconciliation conference with both communities present.

The meetings are in response to a consultative workshop held in Bor from 6 to 8 October on how to end inter-communal violence in the state, which was attended by officials from the state government, UNMISS, UN Development Programme and Sudan Council of Churches.

UNMISS Head of Mission Hilde Johnson, who was present at the workshop, noted that conflict in Jonglei State had drawn international attention. She added that protection of civilians was the responsibility of national and state governments, although the new mission had a mandate to deter conflicts.

Separately, State Governor Kuol Manyang Juuk said that a poorly armed police force coupled with an inadequate road network in South Sudan's largest state hampered security forces from responding to incidents.

"The state has about 8,000 police personnel," he said. "Unfortunately, they are not capable of doing that work because of lack of arms and ammunition. Maybe only 30 per cent of the force has arms."

In August, the scale of violence between local communities escalated, leaving a reported 600 people dead.

To deter retaliatory attacks, the UN peacekeeping mission has deployed teams to engage communities and air as well as ground patrols to deter retaliatory attacks between communities.

Consolidating peace in Jonglei State is currently one of the mission's highest priorities.

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