Finding. Funding.Promoting.

The old woman folds a shawl around her crinkled face as she squints into the midday sun. She holds out a basket for sale. In the pouch around her waist is enough cash to feed her family for a week. Today she will not need to dedicate her singing to bloodshed.

Fatima is from southern Sudan. Her people, the Hakamat, revere the elder women of their tribe as singers of ritual songs – songs that accompany building a house or gathering a crop, but lately have supported war.

During decades of civil war, each armed group in her region of South Kordofan would adopt a Hakamat woman to sing them battle songs. The singing gave them courage and confidence. The singers became rich and important.

When the civil war ended, the militias disbanded and the singers lost business. They fell back on their villages to support them – and found that songs of blood worked there too. A lucrative line of work emerged. In pastoral communities where old wounds remain from 23 years of war, the influence of a Hakamat singer could inflame a dispute over a cow into a vendetta between tribes.

Local peacebuilder Rasha El Fangry understood the influence of these women. But she believed the advocates of war could become ambassadors for peace.

Other people had tried this before and failed. Hakamat women had agreed to sing peaceful songs at festivals, and then returned to their ways. As Rasha explains, “Villagers do not give money to songs of peace, and as soon as a festival was over the women returned to the way they were before.”

But Rasha, with her local knowledge and contacts, looked deeper into the problem. She talked to the singers. They told her that the real problem was how to earn a living. One said, “We want to learn the songs of peace, so no more of our children will be lost in war. But you must train us in something, so that we can support ourselves.”

So Rasha brought a trainer from Khartoum to their village, a woman who was skilled in [weaving], and for two weeks the trainer taught the Hakamat women her skills. And all the time, Rasha talked with them about war and peace. “I told the women their hands needed to be with the hands of all Sudan.”

Today these women are makers of all kinds of handicrafts. They sing about peace. And Fatima can feed her family without inciting violence.

Find out more |        Donate |      Sign up

2009 has seen the Collaborative for Peace in Sudan grow from strength to strength. Whilst the year has not been without its challenges, the Collaborative has made great progress –

• It has extended its network to Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Jonglei States to target election related violence
• Five new organisations have joined the Collaborative across the country and it continues to receive international support beyond Peace Direct

Workshops are organised with local communities in hard to reach areas to challenge the notion that violence is the only way to respond to conflict. At the end of the workshop participants elect a five member peace committee. The peace committees map conflicts and intervene in disputes, and if neccessary they apply for rapid response funding. Their position as insiders from the community cannot be underestimated.

“This is the first time we have been taught something by one of our own sons. Normally it is an INGO or an NGO. This makes us feel we have something to offer and can help ourselves.” Village elder

Rapid Response Fund in action

An oil company had begun drilling on land in the Kadugli area. In compensation the oil company had built a medical centre on land belonging to the Kolba tribe and paid for a medical professional to staff it. However the Koyat tribe disputed the compensation as they said the original land belonged to them. Violence had erupted in 2007 leading to the deaths of 3 people, but the situation was believed to have calmed down.

At the workshop in Kadugli the Collaborative was approached by a member of the Koyat tribe to express his concern that his tribe had purchased 40 weapons. At the same workshop, the Collaborative was approached by a member of the Kolba tribe to warn that some of his men had been sent for military training in Kenya. The newly established Peace Committee was tasked with investigating.

 The Peace Committee discovered that the oil company had compensated the wrong tribe. Rapid Response funding was provided to set up a meeting with the oil company and the tribes people. Following three days of negotiations the oil company agreed to build a second health clinic on Koyat land.

The year ahead

The coming elections in 2010 and the 2011 referendum on whether the South should split from the North will throw up many challenges to safety in Sudan. Over the next year the Collaborative will focus on expanding their network to reach more communities.They will train people to conduct oil related impact surveys of communities on the border with Unity and South Kordofan. From this they will be able to look at wider issues associated with expected border and population movement issues in relation to the 2011 referendum.

The threat of violence will hang over Sudan this year due to the uncertainty of what the elections mean, political rivalry, oil related conflicts, and the ever constrained natural resources. The Collaborative offers an peaceful alternative to conflict and their work will be ever more vital in 2010.

“The situation in South Kordofan is getting worse by the day. This is our analysis of what is fuelling the conflict

Oil

“Oil money” is creating tension between tribes and families. The Baleelah and Awlad Hiban tribes have brought weapons and announced war, accusing each other of taking compensation from oil companies for land belonging to the other.

the spread of tribalism with inter tribe relationships breaking down. 7 people were recently killed in conflict between the Baggarah ‘Arab tribe’ tribe and the Shawamil ‘Nuba tribe’.

Impact on security

You can’t move safely in south kordofan because of “bandits” and armed groups. On my last trip from Dilling to Kadugli we were stopped and asked for road fees, they’re not police they don’t have any authority except their weapons.

INGOs cars have been burnt as people mistake them for oil company cars.

Widespread corruption with people accepting money as bribes.

Abuse of power to get compensation, people are using their status to get compensation they are not entitled to.

Effect on natural resources

Vegetation cover is retracting, trees and shrubs purposefully ruined by local communities in anticipation of compensation from oil companies.

Wildlife then suffers.

Water holes are drying up as a result of earthmoving and earth fills activity by oil companies. An example is the Kailaik Lake which dried up – for the first time ever.

Pollutants the presence of pollutants (in western sector of south Kordofan) is noticed; and many consider it the cause of spread of diseases unknown before in the area: many pregnant women suffered abortions while others (especially children) suffer from eye disease. These diseases spread near areas with polluted water which people use.

Conflict is changing. Recent violence between the ‘Rizaigat’ and ‘Missairiyah’ tribe involved 3000 armed horse riders and 35 cars from each tribe shoot police forces before turning on each other. 28 police and 50 people from each tribe died as well as innocent civilians. Tribes are now very organized, well trained and well armed.

The coming conflict between tribes will be bloodier than before. Its urgent we start working from the grassroots so war does not garner mass support leading to another Darfur.

Rasha El Fangry

Coordinator CfPS”

“Two weeks ago, I attended a meeting with Sudan Oil and Human Security Initiative (SOHSI), government officials and representatives of Total to discuss the concerns that oil may have on conflict in the state. During that meeting it was clear that Jonglei State is experiencing increased tensions. It is believed by many that the referendum will highlight the tribal divisions in the south and already there is a worrying increase in violence and a concerning shifting pattern in cattle raiding. The main concerns now are to:

1. Disarm tribes in a more effective and evenly spread way than previous efforts
a. Previous efforts tried to disarm one county at a time leaving it vulnerable to its neighbours
b. Chiefs were selected to lead the disarmament but lack of local knowledge often led to choosing Chiefs that were not respected
c. More successful attempts at voluntary disarmament have been trialed and need to be supported more intensely
d. Other initiatives to improve human security without actual disarmament are available and may be more realistic in some cases
2. Encourage trade between the different tribes and provide youth with employment
a. I think this has been tried with some success by USAID Youth Community Programme which created joint tribal committees and cross territory trade
3. Raise awareness of the referendum and what it means at a community level
a. Use existing early warning posts and community level training to maintain a permanent positive dialogue about the referendum
b. Use radio broadcasts to raise awareness and keep the message alive
4. Improve policing of state borders
a. Use MPs to work with the police and tighten control of the borders
5. Try to prevent spoiling influences from the north
a. Using local networks, identify those who are susceptible to the north and work with them to engage in a more positive way

Tom Gillhespy
Head of International programmes
Peace Direct”

Land Disputes

“Land disputes rage because there is not enough land for all the people who depend upon it to make a living. After the signing of the peace agreement, many people, who’d left the region because of fighting, came home. During war time, tribes who were not considered on the side of rebels moved freely in the region and the authorities gave land to please certain tribes. Many town people were given land to farm. Some returnees claim this is their land. Land disputes are happening all over the country and are turning into bloody fighting.”

Elections

“Everyone is after power. The rebels haven’t had power in the past, the peace agreement briefly gave them some but now the National Congress Party is in office. At a community level, old tribal chiefs want either to reclaim power or to preserve it. New generations have their eyes on it, so power divides along tribal lines, smaller-community lines, and political movement lines.”

Poverty

“Local people find themselves living in poverty with high unemployment and huge uncertainty about the future. Nothing else could possibly be expected from a person with no job, no money and no future; when they see people in neighbouring south sudan and Darfur what fruits you can expect by going violent. You start by earning your day’s meal and may end up sitting at a table with a government that bribes anyone with a gun. A small dispute in a local beer parlour may snowball into a bloody fight along community/tribal lines.

Tribal affiliation is like religion in the countryside. You are nothing but a Missairi or nuba. You join any fight on your tribesmen’s side. Rumours cause tribal fights without anybody pausing to make sure the information is correct. The media is on the side of the ruling party (NCP), including newspapers that are not allowed to write anything but the press releases of the government spokesperson.

Women used to drum up calls for ‘supporting your tribesmen and showing that you are a man’. Singing and dancing to motivate the young. No more. Women were heavily harmed by the fighting and thousands are lining the streets of cities selling tea to support orphans or children whose fathers have gone away, possibly for good. Everyone is armed. People in the rural areas can only depend on their gun and tribal backing. The little presence of a government authority is only felt inside town (capitals of the states). In the open countryside there is no law and you have to fend for yourself. So everyone must be armed. And arms are getting cheaper and available everywhere, thanks to conflict in Chad and Darfur.

Rasha El Fanry
Coordinator
CfPS

“CfPS organises monthly meetings in the Blue Nile to explore peace building opportunities and spread awareness about the coming elections.

Achievements

1. Copies of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) were distributed amongst communities.
2. 5 volunteers from each town assisted the organisation of the meetings.
3. Government authorities approved the meeting and even sent representatives to participate.
4. The committee helped resolve a conflict between the Angassana and Ambararu tribes which killed ten people.
5. Trust was built between local people and CfPS.
6. The committees were the in the region to tackle the issue of election violence.
7. The committees are working with local media to produce programmes on these issues to be broadcast on national television.

Difficulties

1. There is difficulty in moving from one village to another due to the lack of means of transport and the high cost of vehicle rent.
2. People wanted posters and loudspeakers (public address system) that are not available to the committees.
3. Without a paid administrator coordinating the four committees is slow.
4. The large number of participants in these meetings requires the provision of adequate number of chairs and expenses (refreshment, etc) that committees can not afford.
5. Civic education on election and resultant disputes requires enlisting the services of experienced facilitators (not available locally). The committees can not afford to pay them nor provide them with accommodation.
6. It is imperative to hold joint meetings for the committees every month or every three months. However, the committees do not have required funds.
7. Work is ever growing in volume as well as responsibilities; while the number of members of committees in charge is limited.

Rasha El Fangry
Coordinator
CfPS”

“Several conflicts have erupted between the Missairiyah, an Arab tribe and Manadeel, a Nuba tribe over land and water resources. These conflicts are ongoing but have recently escalated into armed violence. CfPS organised a seminar bringing together elders from both tribe to resolve the conflict and create a permanent peace committee made up of both tribes.

Read the report of the seminar here.

Rasha EL Fangry
Coordinator
CfPS”