Lessons of Prevention from South Sudan

By Bridget Moix on 07/11/2011 @ 02:30 PM

Tags: Sudan, Peaceful Prevention

This past weekend, the world welcomed its 195th independent state, the Republic of South Sudan. After decades of war and millions of lives lost, independence for the south marks a moment of hope and successful peacemaking.

The story of Sudan offers important lessons for the peaceful prevention of deadly conflict. The greatest peacemakers are surely those Sudanese who are working tirelessly to secure a peaceful future for their two countries. But the international community, including the U.S., has also played a critical role in supporting the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the war and paved the way for the new South Sudan.

One lesson is that dedicated resources and high-level international engagement do make a difference. The US has devoted diplomatic personnel to supporting peace in Sudan. US Special Envoy Princeton Lyman shared with CNN what he's learned about negotiating peace and preventing a fall back to war in Sudan. Congress has also focused a great deal on Sudan, and this week, Lyman will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A second lesson is that peace is indeed a process, as Sydney Bailey taught. Even as the South celebrates, violent clashes continue along disputed borders and critical agreements on resource sharing and citizenship still need to be reached. The crisis in Darfur also continues to drag on, with millions of people displaced and facing ongoing violence.

FCNL joins in celebrating the birth of South Sudan and commends all the peacemakers who helped make it happen. We also support them in the long hard work of building peace that will have to continue in the months and years ahead.