Radio Miraya
2742: Peacemakers - The Work of UNMISS Civil Affairs Division in Bor, Jonglei
Hello, welcome to Peacemakers on Radio Biroi with me, Gabriel Shaddar, and today we are having our update on the activities of civil affairs offices around the country, civil affairs offices under the UNMIS, United Nations Mission in South Sudan. They are engaged with the stakeholders and also grassroots levels, at grassroots levels, with the communities and civil society organizations. This time we are having our updates coming from the Jonglais area, and also that is coming from Bohr. And from Bohr, I have with me online, civil affairs office Khalif Farah, Khalif Farah. Welcome on Peacemakers, it has been quite a long time. Thank you, Gabriel Shaddar. It's my pleasure to be with you today on the Miraya Peacemakers program. Good to hear from you, because last time you were in, I think you were in Waraam, you were in Wao, you were in Rumbak. Rumbak, Rumbak and Awil. Yeah, Rumbak and Awil, yes, it's good that you are touring the country more than some of us, you know, these places. So, Khalif Farah, Bohr also might be a different setting for you and for the civil affairs division. What are some of the major activities and facilitation you have been trying to carry out, or you have been carrying out, actually, in the last two months? Thank you, Gabriel Shaddar, for having me again. Civil affairs in Zhongle and GPA works in close cooperation with many partners, including Peace Canal and the members of the RSTF fund, which is Reconciliation Estabilization Resilience Trust Fund. So, at the onset, I want to recognize the contribution of all the peace partners to the work we do in Zhongle and GPA. Civil affairs closely works with them. On the recent initiatives that civil affairs and partners were engaged, I can mention the Gomruk Youth Engagement, which happened early this month from 7 to 9th. It was the community, the youth from the three communities of Zhongle and GPA, including Mule, Nuer, and Dinta were represented in that meeting, the Governor of Zhongle and the new Chief Administrator of GPA were also in that meeting. And one of the key outcomes of that was to strengthen the relationship between the communities and also to, you know, open the roads that remained closed because of the conflict in the two areas. For Dinta, especially, it was a unique opportunity because, for a long time, they have not engaged with Mule. So, the Gomruk meeting was an opportunity for them to engage with Mule and to trust, you know, to build trust with them. In the past, you know, you know, they were skeptical of traveling to Bebor, and Mule are also skeptical to travel into Bebor. So, for the first time in many years, they met in Gomruk and exchanged their views and, you know, gradually built a rapport with each other. So, that was a joint effort between Peace Canal and Ummis, and also other peace partners, including W.V. who supported logistically that meeting. The next thing that happened was also, following the Gomruk meeting, there was an A.E.D. meeting here in Bebor, where Peace Canal sponsored the same three communities who come together also in A.E.D. and to further, you know, push forward. They're the peace agenda or the peace, you know, initiatives. One of the notable outcomes of the A.E.D. meeting was also to open the roads, and the communities called for the three authorities of VBA and Gomruk state support, the community initiative, and following this A.E.D. meeting, which also further consolidated or solidified the trust between the DINGA and MURLE. There will be another meeting in Mano Ball where the focus will be on revitalizing the cattle trade between the poor and GBA, because in the past there was a very, you know, vibrant economic activity trade going on between the two communities. Of course, that has been disrupted by the conflict, and now they want to revive that and to, you know, make use of the potential trade, because the trade is, you know, a peace multiplier, a peace reinforcer. If the two communities are trading, they are less likely to fight or to engage in conflict. So these are some of the recent or the latest initiatives that the peace partners were supporting in Germany and GBA. Yes, Khalifa Raha from Bortha. Listeners, Radio Rayo, listening to a peacemaker's program with Meigib Rashadar, and today I'm having updates on the activities of the Civil Affairs Division. This is a division under the United Nations mission in South Sudan, and we have them having activities with their partners on the ground, and today I'm having these updates coming from Zhonglei with Civil Affairs Officer Khalifa Farah, Khalifa. Going back to the youth engagement, the conflict in South Sudan, whether you have them political conflict, you have communal conflict, sectional conflicts, most of it is done, is carried out or involving the young people, the youth, and with the spread of arms and ammunition, abundant ammunition, these things seem to be continuing, and engagements between communities have been one of the, I mean, one of the engagement tools so that they come and bring their representatives. In the background of these discussions, we have community leaders coming in, political leaders coming in, sometimes security officers also involved in these discussions. So, from the commitment of Gumuruk, what would you like to highlight on this, on this program? First of all, the conflict has many dynamics and many actors, so if you want to make an impact, you have to use your areas of intervention very carefully, because it is not possible to focus on all the conflicts in the area and all the actors. So, I think the focus of the peace partners, because I want to emphasize the peace partners, I don't want to talk about only civil affairs activities, I want to talk the activities of the peace partners, because we alone, as Ummis and peace civil affairs cannot make a difference, or cannot make a change on the conflict landscape in Germany and Japan. That's why it's very important to emphasize partnerships and joint effort between Ummis and peace partners, including peace canal, non-violence, peace force, even those other organizations that don't have traditional roles in this building, like W.B. is now involved in this building activities, because this requires something to incentivize, it's not just a dialogue and meetings, you need tangible intervention, it's like community projects, you know, boreholes, you know, markets, all these things. So, that's why it's important to bring on both all the partners to make an impact. So, we have been very clear on our focus on youth, because if you are able to persuade youth to disengage from conflict or incentivize them not to participate in conflict, you already, you are able to resolve most of the problems. So, from last year up to now, there was serious of efforts, you know, focusing on youth. We have engaged with the White Army youth in many places, in Singapore, in Acopo. There was also exchange of visits between youth, that peace partners have supported between GBA and Jumli. So, the focus was always on youth, there was some joint initiatives that we did with Peace Canal, in WUNO, in GBA, and Lekongole, which brought together the youth from the two communities of Mughli and Launwerk. And that, actually, until very recently was making a very big positive progress, because of our joint effort, the Lekongole and Acopo communities have started interacting and trading more, in Acopo, become a trading center for Mughli and Launwerk. And there was a movement of people, you know, unfortunately, the recent attacks or, you know, mobilizations that happened in GPA, you know, disrupted some of these activities, but all is not lost. We need to be determined and committed to work with youth. As part of this effort, we are also building markets, UMS is building markets in UI, and Lekongole, to give incentives to youth to, you know, engage in cattle trade, instead of engaging in violence. Biskana also has, you know, deck boreholes in WUNO and Bishpish, of course, with support from their donors, and, you know, to provide service to communities, because most of these people in remote areas, they are always complaining about lack of services, and they, you know, make those kinds of justification, you know, and excuses for engaging in conflict because of lack of services. So it's important, not only to, you know, organize workshops and dialogues, but also to give them something tangible projects, so Biskana has provided water yabs, water points for the communities in Bishpish, in GBA, and, you know, another one in WUNO in Lekongole, and we hope that this collective effort from all the Biskana, UMS and all Biskana, we will make a difference in the conflict trajectory in GBA and Jolie. We are, we have been very excited and pleased to see the Governor of Jolie State and Jeff Administrator of GBA who came to Gumbrum meeting, and who made a commitment to work together with the communities to stop the ongoing violence and persistent attacks that are happening between the two communities of Jolie and GBA. We hope that they will get the necessary support they need from the national government to make an impact on security and stability in the two areas because Jolie conflict is so complex and so, you know, entrenched that you don't only require the local authorities to act together, but you also need local authorities to act with the national government and with peace partners and with all the communities, including youth and women, to make an impact. And we will continue after this short interlude. Peacemakers. Many alternatives. The same goal. The first thing we want to do is to make a difference. Fighting the nation. Your preferred station. The voice of peace. Peacemakers. Many alternatives. The same goal. Peaceful one is Peaceful all. Peacemakers. Yes. Khalifa has explained that it is very difficult, of course, to cover all the dimensions and dynamics of conflicts in an area and then you have to start somewhere to provide services and thanks to the services provided by the peace partners, an unviolent action and also the peace carnal. They have been giving some an even known message, constructing markets that will be jointly used by the communities. I want you to go back to the discussions that have been taking place. Maybe you attended some of those discussions. What can you say about the role and the impact of this pointless? Because the spoilers here are those who are not attending these discussions and dialogues and conferences and engagements. They are very far and very far in the message. They keep carrying on like there is nothing happening and there is no kind of order coming from like there is no kind of order and directives coming from the leaders. Sometimes they are called criminals but sometimes they are just people who don't care about what order is being put in place. So what is the reflection of the participants about the spoilers? Okay. Thank you, Shadar. I think it's not possible to bring all the actors including filmmakers and spoilers in one meeting. So there is always a selection of representatives from communities to engage in these dialogues and peace meetings. One of the things that we need to do or we have been doing to improve the representation of the key stakeholders in peace dialogue meetings is to target the youth, the right people. In the case of GBA we have these eight sets like Conan and Lango and those people. It's not possible to make peace without them and they are the ones who are involved in violence in most of the attacks that happen in Germany are blamed on these eight sets, eight sets groups in Germany. That's why it was that we, as always in peace patterns, we went even to those areas like Pichpich and an AM area in GBA. Those areas that have not been reached before. Those are the areas where these young people live and where they are cut off from the rest of the world or from the rest of the communities. They live on their own. I have seen myself with my own eyes that these people, youth live a very miserable life. They don't have water, they don't have schools, they don't have any services, not all. So we went one of the things that we were doing to make sure that we address conflict directly with those who are engaged in violence is to go to those remote areas. The second thing was also to improve the selection of participants in those meetings so that there is, there are youth that represent from all the village, all the areas, the hotspot areas, they are at the meeting because if they are not at the meeting, they will not, the implementation of the resolution. They will not own the narratives, they will not own the narratives and the agreements and all this. And the problem we are facing in Germany and GBA is there are so many resolutions, so many agreements that have not been implemented. Why we need to do analysis of why it was not implemented because these youth did not own them. So for them to own, they need to be at the table where discussions are happening. So slowly, slowly we are trying to improve on youth representation in those meetings and they themselves decide what they can implement and what they cannot implement. We don't dictate for them what are you comfortable to implement, even if there are two positive steps you want to take out of ten that are required. That's good enough. So we are telling them own your process, make your own decisions, make your own resolutions, but do agree on resolutions that you are able and you are comfortable to implement. So this is one of the strategies we have been doing to target the spoilers. The other thing that we are doing is to also, you know, encourage the community leaders like the traditional chiefs and all of them to reach out to them and not to isolate them because if you isolate the criminals and you say they are criminals, we are not going to, they have to be dealt as criminals. Of course, yes, the law enforcement should build them as criminals, but if there is a possibility of changing their mindsets, then we have to engage with them. One other thing that we have been doing is, you know, in the case of GBA, it's not easy to lamp and all the, you know, exits, you know, because of the historical and cultural and, you know, social context of the conflict, we have to engage with cornea, a separate group, we have to engage with Lango as a separate group, both onia as a separate group, because they have nothing to do with each other. They operate independently of each other. So this is the nature of the conflict. Yeah, they don't even when they are going to cattle rate, when they are going for cattle rate, they don't go as mule, but they go as exits. And they don't go even as cornea, like let me give you, in, in, in, in Gumbro, we have a village like Vevano, Calero, so Calero and Vevano will not go together, the cornea of Lango, or the cornea of Vevano and Calero will not go together as a joint group and do cattle rates. No, they will do, they will do separately. So you have to tackle the problem, you know, you know, separately, you have to tackle each village, each exit group, you know, you have to adjust them separately, understand the context. One, one, one, one thing, the one more thing or final thing I want to highlight is, because it is, you know, these exits are very, it's not easy to understand their concerns and challenges. Yeah. And but we cannot ignore them. So we have now a memorandum of understanding with this canal, as soon as we have a memorandum of understanding with this canal, and we are providing funds to do transformative sessions with all these, you know, exits, village by village, so that we understand their concerns, we understand their issues. And based on that understanding, we, we map out and juice our interventions accordingly. Yeah. Khalifa, you have a very wonderful account to say here, like a deep understanding of who is the conflict in the conflict, what are the dynamics and what is driving the actions and all these. And also, coming closer, how do you feel when you engage with the communities that are living in a very remote area is a huge logistical operation, but also the feeling that somebody out there is coming closer to them. Do the communities in those remote areas, are they feeling that the the peace actors are coming closer to them more than before? Yes. Actually, they were surprised to see us. You know, first of all, during the rainy season, it is very, it's very difficult to reach those areas. So we were able during the dry season to reach some of the areas, like Bishpish, we were traveling two days from before to Bishpish. We were traveling two days, you know, it was not easy to reach there because there are more roads. And let me tell you, it was logistically very difficult. Even one of our vehicles has banned because of the heating, because of the rough roads, shops that we were using as banned completely. So reaching there, people are very excited to see us. And they were asking us, where were you? Oh, this year, we have not seen, we have not seen anyone coming to us. And you know, they live, you know, a difficult life. So by the time we were planning to engage with only 40 youth from those communities in Bishpish, from Jibanyaradi, Rajis, Vibanyo, Tanyan, and Kalero. But we have ended up meeting with more than 400 people. They came in large numbers. You know, all of them armed, elders, women, everybody came and they were surprised to see us. So just listening to them, their issues and their concern is a very, you know, converting to them. You know, because we have given them a platform to listen, they now feel engaged. They are feeling their voices have been heard. Even if you are not offering them some of the, you cannot meet their demands, like they want water projects, they want schools, they want food, they want a lot of things. Even if you cannot offer them all those things, just by listening to them. Yeah, it's very comforting. You know, it's very comforting for them. So that's been, the same thing was with also when we went to Wono with Pish partners, they were also very, very happy to see the Pish partners at the, you know, and you know, it's only by engaging with those communities in those remote areas that you can make a real impact on conflict. But if you are just confined in big cities, you stay in the boar or gumbrook or, you know, lekongole or aquapo or, you know, UI, and you don't reach the remote areas, the hinterland, you are not able to make a lot of impact on the conflict. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for a very interesting account. And of course, to conclude is, of course, the issues of follow up, issues of follow up are linked to the implementation of the resolutions already there. But also another dimension that I want to bring in is when the, the authorities in one way or another, whether you made traditional authorities and leadership, and also the government in different aspects are part of these processes. You spoke about the presence of the governor of Jungley, and also the chief administrator, the newly appointed chief administrator of people at Mr. Tivaria. I want to conclude with follow up and accountability measures of on what has been agreed. What can you say? Well, let me say, honestly, that, you know, implementation of peace agreements and resolution has not been all encouraging. There are a lot of gaps in implementation of resolutions, and that's why the government authorities has to play a big role in implementing of these resolutions. If we leave these two communities alone, not much will be achieved. So we have been engaging with, intensively, with authorities to accompany the communities in this process, in this journey, because governments have resources that communities don't have. They have legitimacy that, you know, that needs to be brought, you know, on board. So the ownership of the authorities of these resolutions is very key in order to ensure the implementation of the peace resolution. So, you know, the two authorities of Jungley and CA, we believe they are committed to take the peace agenda forward and to, you know, support the communities to, you know, implement what they have been, what they have agreed in the past, and their engagement is very necessary. It's a best practice, you know. Communities alone, okay, it's, you know, it's bottom-up top-down approach. You know, bottom-up is very good. It creates ownership of the communities, but communities alone will not be able to, you know, drive this peace process. You need intensive engagement of the authorities. It was not always, it was not always, you know, ideal, but we hope now with the new CA in DBA and the governor of Jungley, who has shown tremendous interest in the peace process, I think they can push forward the peace agenda, and they will play an instrumental role in implementation of the action points. Yes. The communities have agreed, working, of course, with the national government. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes. Kari Farahah, the last, last question, and we will let you go. And the Iranian season is setting in. We are speaking now in the last weeks or last days of May, and soon the Iranian season is coming. I'm sure, based on the information experience that these areas, many of these areas will be cut off, literally cut off, and they cannot be reached only through job person, all these, and a lot of movement will happen with the cattle and all these. Sometimes we have the risks of flooding and all these kinds of things. So in the coming few weeks, what will you be doing until these areas are cut off or before these areas are cut off from contract? Okay. You know, one thing, first of all, before I talk about the Iranian season, I should talk about, in last, in previous years, the dry season was an opportunity for mobilization for attacks. They were, like, in 2022, early '23, there was a big mobilization of loud wear and dick against GPA. This year, it didn't happen because of, I want to give the credit to the community leaders themselves. They have been very focused and very determined to prevent mobilization of youth to attack, to, you know, to launch attacks against their neighbors. And I also want to quickly, the intensive work that the beast partners have done, including beast canal, RS, RTF, and UNMS for the excellent work they have done for preventing a large-scale mobilization. We were not able to stop all attacks. It was not possible, and it will never be possible to stop all the attacks. But this year or last year, we, I think, the collective effort of communities, the authorities, and the beast partners have prevented large mobilization for attacks, which could have caused a lot of lives. Coming to the rainy season, of course, the beast doesn't stop. The beast initiatives don't stop during the rainy season. The rainy season is a quiet period. Most of the people will not be able to go outside their areas, and we hope the attacks and the cattle raids and the abductions of children and women will subsidize during the rainy season. But we will use whatever resources we have, including our air assets, to reach out to areas, and also to mitigate conflicts, because when the rainy season comes, people who are flooded, they move to areas where there is no floods, and that also sometimes causes frictions with the host communities. So we are, as we speak now, we are preparing some programmatic activities to support flood-related, you know, or to mitigate flood-related conflicts, and we are working with, like, in the journalist state committee, there is a flood management committee. We are going to sit with them and discuss the priorities for our interventions during the rainy season, how to mitigate flood-related conflicts during the dry season, and we will work also with our partners. We also have, I think, been able to already design some of the projects that will require, you know, even on this season, not able to reach there. We are working with partners on the ground, those who can reach the communities very easily. So partnership is key for reaching out communities during the rainy season, and to, you know, engage communities in those areas. partnership is very key, whether it is partnership with key, peace partners or with communities or with even local NGOs who are able to access those areas. Yeah, Jennifer, really, I admire your knowledge, and your well-versed in those areas, and the way you have been knowing all these places that even me, as south of the knees, I don't know them, and I have a little chance of knowing them unless I go to some kind of studies. Really an effort of peacekeeping that was appreciation, and really thanks for this, and also we thank the peace partners, if you have been also mentioning them, and they have been doing a great job there, and I hope your rainy season, a long rainy season, will be also peaceful, as the efforts have contributed to mitigating large-scale mobilizations by the end of last year and the beginning of this year. Thank you very much, Khalifa. I see you again after a couple of months. Thank you very much. Thank you, Shaddar, for this show, and for your wonderful effort in showcasing our effort, our peace partners' effort in a rare video. Thank you very much, and that is the end of today's Peacemakers program, which has been coming from Zhongli, and we had Khalifa. The first officer was the only member of the first division speaking to me. Gabriel Shaddar, thanks for listening.