South Sudan

In South Sudan, communities continue to live with the long-term effects of violence, displacement, and deep social divisions. Through The Peace Project, local peacebuilders work with communities to strengthen relationships, support healing, and contribute to more inclusive and supportive conditions for peace.

Context

Across many communities, mistrust between groups remains widespread. Cycles of violence and retaliation have shaped how people relate to one another, while younger generations have often grown up with limited opportunities for interaction across ethnic or religious divides. Over time, these dynamics have weakened social cohesion and reduced communities’ resilience in the face of conflict.

 

Security practices are often experienced as exclusive or top-down, reinforcing distance rather than trust between communities and authorities. In this context, religious actors, youth, and community leaders play an important role in rebuilding trust and supporting cooperation at local level.

What We Do
in South Sudan

Support reflection and healing.

Experiences of violence and loss continue to influence how individuals and communities understand themselves and others. The Peace Project supports processes that create space for reflection, healing, and dialogue, helping people to engage with one another beyond fear and suspicion.

This includes:

  • individual psychosocial support
  • communal approaches that focus on emotional and spiritual wellbeing
  • facilitated dialogues that encourage reflection on divisive narratives
  • collaboration with religious actors to promote messages of dignity, reconciliation, and coexistence

Together, these efforts contribute to rebuilding trust and supporting reconciliation between groups.

Rebuilding social cohesion.

Limited interaction between groups can deepen prejudice and mistrust. To support a shift from division towards greater cohesion, The Peace Project strengthens relationships across religious, ethnic, and generational lines.

In South-Sudan, this includes:

  • equipping religious actors and networks to initiate community dialogues and mediation
  • facilitating local conflict mediation processes
  • engaging youth from diverse backgrounds through joint arts and sports activities

These initiatives create meaningful encounters, broaden perspectives, and support stronger social cohesion at community level.

Promoting inclusive and supportive environments.

Decision-making and security practices in South Sudan often lack inclusivity, contributing to distance between communities and authorities. Policies and practices are frequently shaped through top-down approaches that do not sufficiently reflect local realities.

To help create fairer and more secure conditions, The Peace Project:

  • supports advocacy related to national dialogue, nation-building, and constitution-making
  • promotes more inclusive and fair legislation
  • raises awareness within local communities about participation and rights
  • facilitates engagement between religious actors, youth, government representatives, and the national army

These efforts support youth participation in peacebuilding and contribute to improved trust between citizens and security actors.

Local Partners

The Peace Project works closely with experienced local partner organisations in South Sudan, including JPC Wau, UCDC, and SSLS. These partners are deeply rooted in their communities and play a central role in designing and implementing context-sensitive peacebuilding initiatives.