In Sudan, ecumenical group reviews peace process, builds Church partnerships
Sudan, Africa's largest country by area, has been devastated by two back-to-back civil wars spanning some 40 years.
A meeting with U.S. Consul General to Sudan Christopher Datta brought a deeper understanding of the U.S. government's involvement in working to maintain peace and develop infrastructure in southern Sudan, where the latest 21-year conflict claimed two million lives and displaced four million people.
The ecumenical delegation, which included bishops representing the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), met with officials from the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), celebrated the April 20 enthronement of Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS) Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, and attended a House of Bishops meeting to hear about some of the challenges throughout the province's 24 dioceses.
Midweek, the delegation divided into two groups, one visiting Lutheran World Relief programs in Torit and the other hosted by the Episcopal Diocese of Lainya to learn about an initiative, supported by Episcopal Relief and Development, to build a rehabilitation center for training refugees returning to the area, primarily from camps in Kenya and Uganda.
At the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the delegation discussed some of the challenges of repatriating the Sudanese diaspora following the official end of the civil war in January 2005 when a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was negotiated between northern and southern government officials with the involvement of international leaders.
Datta acknowledged that the CPA is currently experiencing some fragility and admitted there had been challenges working with the southern government, but he also recognized "a great deal of potential."
For decades, the civil wars that have ravaged the country have cleared southern Sudan of infrastructure and development. "Capacity is enormously limited here and the southern government is often overwhelmed by the tasks," said Datta.
However, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), a political entity and the main constituent of GoSS, "has the potential to unite everyone," said Datta, who hopes the Movement will organize in 2009 as a national party and that the minority parties will form a uniting coalition.
Datta works closely with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is partnering with GoSS on development initiatives such as building education curriculums and training teachers; paving roads; offering micro-credit and banking programs; distributing seeds and farming equipment; and organizing training days on issues such as public health and government and democracy.
USAID also provides the Sudan People's Liberation Army, the military wing of the SPLM, with logistical training, especially for commander control to ensure that the armed forces in the field are sticking to government protocols.
Saying that he is doing God's work, Datta recognized the Church as one of the few institutions to have survived the war. "It has enormous potential to rebuild the south," he said.
Alexander Baumgarten, international policy analyst for the Episcopal Church, said the U.S. government presence in southern Sudan provides an important resource for those working to bring about a lasting peace. "We heard time and again while in Sudan that the friendship, partnership, and accompaniment of the international community is vital in supporting the still-new Government of South Sudan," said Baumgarten. "We witnessed the U.S. government stepping into that role in a significant way, and we saw the degree to which the southern Sudanese people welcomed that."
Baumgarten said the U.S. presence in southern Sudan reflects a longtime commitment of the American government to a peaceful future for the Sudanese people.
"The current work of the U.S. government in supporting economic development and the transition to peace and stability in South Sudan is an extension of the critical role our nation's government played in helping broker the 2005 peace agreement," Baumgarten said. "Americans should be proud that their government did not walk away once the peace agreement was signed, but increased its presence in South Sudan in order to put flesh to the promises of the agreement."
The 2005 peace agreement between the northern Government of Sudan and the southern people was negotiated with the involvement of U.S. envoy to Sudan John C. Danforth, a former U.S. Senator from Missouri and an Episcopal priest.
Datta called on the religious community to educate people about Sudan because, he said, very few people understand the differences and dynamics between the south and the north. He said that many Western companies are reluctant to trade in Sudan for fear they will be perceived as endorsing the Khartoum-based government.
Throughout Sudan's history of independence, the northern government has periodically attempted to impose Sharia law nationwide, including punishments such as amputations and stoning.
Datta said that the international community needs to continue putting pressure on northern Sudan as its main political governing organization, the National Congress Party (NCP), "has a history of broken agreements that go back 20 years."
The northern government has claimed for years that Sudan is an Arab Muslim country, Datta said, despite the largely non-Arab Christian population of the south. "The north claims there are more Muslims than Christians," said Datta, "and its National Congress Party is very good at using technicalities to outmaneuver the south."
The vision of John Garang, former vice president of Sudan who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2005, was for a unified Sudan, Datta said. "Through a system of fair elections, the Africans in the south would overwhelm the Arabs in the north."
Sudan's first census since 1993 got underway on April 22 amid much skepticism in the south, partly due to the north's refusal to cooperate in the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) so that they could be counted according to their region of origin. The census is regarded as a critical element in implementing the CPA and an essential step before the country's first democratic elections in 23 years, scheduled for 2009. The CPA also set the date of 2011 for a referendum in which southerners can determine whether to secede from the north or remain a unified country. Datta fears that without a referendum the country would return to civil war.
Although the south doubts the credibility of the census because of the large number of displaced people, "it needed to happen now because the enumerators were in place and canceling it would have meant tens of millions of dollars being wasted," said Datta. "Donors would then think twice about giving money in the future."
Datta admitted that it may not be the perfect census, "but it will be a good census and we don't want the NCP to say that the southern government is responsible for its failure."
Sharing of oil revenues also forms a major part of the CPA and Sudan being one of the poorest countries in the world "means that both the north and the south need those revenues," said Datta. "It's in the interests of both not to go back to war," otherwise the oilfields, mostly located in the south, would be shut down.
Datta has also been involved in negotiations to bring peace to northern Uganda, where Lord's Resistance Army rebels, led by Joseph Kony, have terrorized the population through widespread massacres and child abductions. Datta shared some encouraging news that the LRA appears to be splintering since Kony killed one of his deputies causing three separate factions to emerge.
Earlier in the week, the delegation met with GoSS leaders Major General Clement Wani Konga, governor of Central Equatoria State, Henry Danga, deputy governor and state minister, and Charity Gaba, secretary general, for talks about the peace process.
The Rt. Rev. Frank Gray, former assistant bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and former diocesan of Northern Indiana, was impressed to hear Konga say that the Episcopal Church of Sudan is the largest social and religious institution in southern Sudan outside of the government.
"The Church is alive and vibrant despite most of the clergy not being paid and bishops riding bicycles great distances to visit congregations," said Gray, who accepted a call to serve as Archbishop Deng's commissary in the U.S. to help fulfill the Sudanese Church's vision of developing companion relationships for each of its 24 dioceses. "There is a sense of 'God will take care of things.'
Gray described Sudan as "one of the most inspiring places in the world. The Episcopal Church here is very poor, and yet it is the largest non-governmental organization in Sudan." It is estimated that ECS includes four million Episcopalians throughout northern and southern Sudan.
Richard Parkins, former director of Episcopal Migration Ministries, said that the Church is strategically positioned to be a capacity builder in southern Sudan and acknowledged the importance of education, which was underscored by both Church leaders and government officials during the visit. "The vast majority of skilled workers currently have to been imported from neighboring countries," said Parkins, "so there needs to be more emphasis on vocational training."
One of the major problems facing post-war Sudan is the return of thousands of refugees, including two million IDPs, who have been displaced for up to 24 years. "Thousands of towns and villages throughout southern Sudan will have to think of ways to absorb these returning refugees, which is a particular problem because those communities lack infrastructure," said Parkins, commending the Church for continuing to play an educational and integrating role in southern Sudan.
Janette O'Neill, director of Africa programs for Episcopal Relief and Development, said it was encouraging to hear the acknowledgement from Datta and GoSS officials that the Church plays a vital role in civil society, but she expressed disappointment in the lack of partnership between the government and the Church. "But we must remember that this government is only three years old," she said, "so when we reach out in partnership it has to be one that is supportive and based on solutions, not on demands."
The ecumenical delegation included Episcopal Diocese of Chicago Assisting Bishop Victor Scantlebury; the Rt. Rev. Francis Gray, former assistant bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and diocesan of Northern Indiana; the Rev. Howard Wennes, retired ELCA bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod and interim president of California Lutheran University; the Rev. Duane Danielson, ELCA bishop of the North Dakota Synod; the Rev. Emmanuel Sserwadda, partnership officer for Africa; Janette O'Neill, director of Africa programs for ERD; Alexander Baumgarten, international policy analyst in the Office of Government Relations; Richard Parkins, former director of Episcopal Migration Ministries; and Kimberly Stietz, director for international policy in the Washington Office of the ELCA.
1 comment:
Hey Judith,
Thanks for posting Matthew Davies story. Did you see the ELCA video I produced about Northern Uganda, the Acholi people and forgiveness?
http://www.elca.org/readytoforgive/
Tim Frakes
www.frakesproductions.com
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