Statement of participants from Nyal meeting on Wunlit 1999 peace conference after 22 years (Nyal Agreement)

• Country/entity

  South Sudan
  
• Region

  Africa (excl MENA)
  
• Agreement name

  Statement of participants from Nyal meeting on Wunlit 1999 peace conference after 22 years (Nyal Agreement)
• Date

  14 May 2021
• Agreement status

  Multiparty signed/agreed
• Interim arrangement

  Yes
• Agreement/conflict level

  Intrastate/local conflict ( Sudan Conflicts (1955 - ) )
• Stage

  Implementation/renegotiation
• Conflict nature

  Inter-group
• Peace process

  South Sudan: Post-secession Local agreements
• Parties

  The agreement lists the following signatories:
  
  Peter Nyuong Danhiar (Paramount Chief, Payinjiar County)
  
  Gum Mading Akuecbany (Paramount Chief, Wunlit County)
  
  Sawat Malual Arop (Paramount Chief, Aduol Kong County)
  
  Jacob Madhel Lang (Paramount Chief, Aweng Payam, Twic County and Chairperson COTAL Warrap State)
  
  Andrew Madot Buoi (Paramount Chief, Yirol East County, Nyang Payam)
  
  Joseph Kong Yoach (Paramount Chief, Guit County)
  
  Elizabeth David Dabuol Ngot (Women League Chairperson, Koch County)
  
  Isaac Magok Gatluak (Paramount Chief, Mayendit County)
  
  Stephen Kuong Mabil (Paramount Chief, Leer County)
• Third parties

  Rift Valley Institute, Assistance Mission for Africa and Swiss Government.
• Description

  A short agreement calling for further implementation of inter-communal reconciliation efforts involving county chiefs, women, youth and religious leaders through continued community dialogues in line with the aims of the Wunlit agreement of 1999. Substantively this agreement follows up on its partner agreement in Nyal and makes provision for return of IDPS, development and humanitarian supports to address flooding and calls for the enforcement by the office of the regional commissioner to address key issues for community peace. The provisions address community violence and hate speech acts and the prevalence of weapons within communities, calling for an overall solution to ongoing inter-communal violence in border areas between the states.

• Agreement document

  SS_210514_Nyal meeting signed statement.pdf | Download PDF

Local agreement properties

• Process type

  Formal structured process
  
• Rationale

  The process is an inter-communal series of dialogues between county chiefs experienced in local negotiations and a revival of the community based Wunlit talks. The talks were structured through a series of discussions as part of a wider programme, beginning with Dinka chiefs visiting Nyal and being followed up with a reciprocal visit by Nuer chiefs to Yirol for a second set of meetings. It is supported by Rift Valley Institute and Assistance Mission for Africa.
• Is there a documented link to a national peace process?

  No
• Link to national process: articulated rationale

  Agreement explicitly references and reaffirms the community led Wunlit Peace Conference and aspires to return to parts of that seminal local process which was in part supported by senior southern political figures but does not have a direct link to national process or central government related process.
• Name of Locale

  Unity State, Lakes State and Warrap State
• Nature Of Locale

  Region
• GPS Lat/Long (DD)

  7.827199, 29.701490
• Participant type

  Domestic religious organisation/leader or other elder
  Local community/civilian group(s)/civil society organisations
  
• Mediator, facilitator or similar

  Mediator or similar referred to
  Mediator (references)

  Page 1, The agreement describes the gathering of representatives as being: 'brought together by the Rift Valley Institute and the Assistance Mission for Africa with support from the Swiss government.'
  Type of mediator/facilitator/similar

  International or transnational actor

Local issues

Statement of participants from Nyal meeting on Wunlit 1999 Peace Conference after 22 years

Nyal, 13 -14 May 2021

On 13 — 14 May, we the twenty-nine the representative chiefs and women from Unity State, Lakes State and Warrap State, members of the original Wunlit Peace Conference of 1999, brought together by the Rift Valley Institute and Assistance Mission for Africa, with support from the Swiss Government, met in Nyal, Payinjiar County, Unity State.

The objectives of the meeting were to:

• Receive the research findings from the Rift Valley Institute and Catholic University of

South Sudan oral history memory project on the 1999 Wunlit Peace Conference;

• Celebrate the achievements of Wunlit;

• Document proposed ways forward for South Sudan considering the lessons learnt from Wunlit.

In recent South Sudanese history one of the most significant peace-building events was the Wunlit Peace Conference of 1999.

Wunlit was a meeting of chiefs, organised by churches, that began the process of reunification of the two factions of the SPLA/M. The Wunlit meeting paved the way for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, which brought South Sudan into being as a nation.

This meeting in Nyal gave us the opportunity to reignite our memories of the Wunlit Peace Conference, which has inspired and encouraged us.

Therefore:

We acknowledge:

• The great successes of Wunlit that include — the reunification of the two factions of the SPLA/M, that subsequently led to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 and the independence of South Sudan;

and the peaceful coexistence of communities in the Western Nile and the networking, collaboration and friendship that it brought between the traditional leaders who attended, which still stand today;

• Our commitment to the spirit and implementation of the R-ARCISS.

We recognise with concern:

• The absence of key chiefs missing from our meeting including those from Mayom and Gogrial due to the focus of the meeting on bringing together participants from the original Wunlit meeting;

• The recent killings in cattle camps and at the border areas between our communities;

• The prevalence of guns in the hands of our young people;

• The high rates Of illiteracy, disease and hunger in our communities;

• The lack of road infrastructure and telecommunications network in the Wunlit Triangle, particularly in Payinjiar.

We appeal:

• To youth in the cattle camps to maintain peace as we continue to work to rekindle the spirit of Wunlit;

• To all other political groups not under current government to negotiate and be under one flag Of South Sudan;

• To the Transitional Government of National Unity, Republic of South Sudan to keenly support grassroots peacebuilding activities across the country;

For unity and peace in all of South Sudan;

• That the spirit of Wunlit and of dialogue should be spread across the whole of South

Sudan;

• To all communities to stop and refuse revenge killings.

Therefore we resolve:

• To continue and further our discussions during this meeting at our upcoming meeting in Yirol, Lakes State, with additional from the 1999 Wunlit Peace Conference;

• To request a meeting with President Kiir and First Vice-President Riek Machar to discuss the issues of local conflict amongst our communities, through Ministry of Peacebuilding;

• That processes are urgently initiated and implemented to remove guns from the hands of the youth concurrently across communities to prevent further loss of life;

To reconvene a second Wunlit meeting bringing together all chiefs from across the three regions to convene once again in Wunlit and evoke the spirit of Wunlit;