What peace and Whose? - Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre

What peace and whose?9on the Darfur conflict and the various unsuccessful attempts to formally end the conflict. As alandmark peace agreement which brought formal peace, the CPA needed close attention, bothdomestically and internationally. However, the focus on the CPA also led to a preoccupationwith short-term targets and deadlines, and a lack of attention to deeper, longer-term issuesand problems which are themselves underlying drivers of discontent and conflict within eachcountry as well as between them. Essentially the CPA was a high-level political and militaryagreement, which did little to mitigate feelings among many people about issues such asinequality, discrimination, injustice, impunity and corruption – issues connected to the fivemain factors of conflict listed above. Thus, although the CPA brought some peace, it is alsotrue that it did not build peace comprehensively. It was comprehensive neither geographicallynor in which factors of conflict it addressed.Since the end of the CPA in July 2011 and the secession of South Sudan, peace in the two Sudanshas not suddenly become stronger or deeper. On the contrary, regardless of the arrangementswhich are meant to provide for peace between the two countries in this post-CPA period, thosefactors of conflict which have not been addressed since 2005 (and before) remain present andcontinue to pose a threat to future peace and stability in and between both countries. The list offactors is long, but however they are categorised or discussed, many of them are familiar to peoplefrom across the two countries, as Table 1 shows.Table 1: Some factors blocking progress in peace in South Sudan and SudanIssueDemocracyDiscriminationImpunityInequalityEconomicdiscontentLack ofreconciliationOilCorruptionPatronageIdentityIdeologyExample or illustrationElections are not seen to be free and fair, contributing to perceptions thatgovernments are not representative, and encouraging rebellions against themPeople feel that there is ethnic favouritism in government, in private sectoremployment opportunities and in access to services; minority ethnic groups feelmarginalised and disadvantagedPerpetrators of violence and abuses are seen to go unpunished, encouragingpeople to pursue retributive and retaliatory violence, and encouraging cynicismabout the political and judicial systemsGap between rich and poor is seen to have widened and access to wealth is seenas linked to aspects of identity such as tribe, geographic location and genderDiscontent about unequal regional economic and infrastructure development,which can encourage demands for regional self-determinationHistorical grievances, suspicions and mistrust between communities are notaddressed, contributing to ongoing animosityCommunities feel that the negative impact of oil exploration and production isinsufficiently addressed and local benefits are too fewPerceptions that corruption goes unpunished undermine public confidence in andsupport for central and local governmentExpectations of patronage conflict with expectations of equity and equalopportunityCompeting claims about local or regional identity lead to conflict and violence, forexample over land rights and ownershipPerceived attempts to implement a particular ideology (for example relatedto national or religious identity) are sometimes inflammatory and opposed bysections of the population