Abyei’s Joint Community Peace Committee

In February 2016, Concordis co-facilitated a joint meeting between the Dinka Ngok and Misseriya groups, having prepared the ground with 10 ‘mini dialogues’ with key leaders from the communities.

The joint meeting of over 700 delegates agreed to form a 20-member Joint Community Peace Committee (JCPC). Over the next three to four years, the JCPC met regularly at the Amiet Market, mediating intercommunity conflict as it arose, addressing its root causes and negotiating peace agreements between the communities. On returning to Abyei (with new funding) in November 2019, after an 18 month absence, Concordis found the JCPC had become less united; the pressure of intercommunity conflict and the withdrawal of Concordis' support had become too much.

They were then faced with a massacre in the nearby village of Kolom in January 2020, and the JCPC was disbanded for failing to prevent the attack. Despite these setbacks, there remains strong local desire for a functioning peace committee. In a high-level meeting of Abyei's traditional leaders, convened jointly by Concordis and the UN in February 2021, both the Misseriya and Dinka Ngok delegates agreed that the JCPC should be restructured and reformed. This will require considerable shuttle diplomacy between the traditional leaders, the grassroots communities and the government administrations from North and South.

Our goal is both to enable the JCPC to unite and reform, and to ensure it becomes a more inclusive and representative institution, which takes into account the needs and aspirations of the whole Abyei community.