South Sudan Council of Churches Action Plan for Peace
A review to strengthen collective action to peace in South Sudan
The South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC), its Board of Trustees, and the Council’s global, regional and national partners have just concluded a three-day review and reflection on the SSCC’s Action Plan for Peace (APP), commonly known as ‘Kigali plus’. The meeting was held on April 27-29, 2022, in Nairobi, Kenya. The APP is the home-grown, comprehensive and Church-led strategy of the SSCC, addressing the root causes and long-term effects of conflict through advocacy, neutral forums, healing, and reconciliation. The SSCC is a partner in KAIROS’ Women of Courage: Women, Peace and Security program.
The forum was an opportunity for the SSCC to review and reflect on the APP Advocacy Pillars and to adopt them in the new context of implementation of the peace agreement, under the theme, “From stopping the war to the consolidation of Peace: challenges and opportunities.” When the APP was first launched in 2015, it envisioned a peaceful, prosperous, and reconciled South Sudan built on inclusive citizen engagement, building on the decades of the church experience in peace building and reconciliation.
Among the review’s recommitment statements, faith leaders national and ecumenical bodies and other partners committed to promoting and strengthening national unity and societal change in South Sudan, reinforcing joint conflict resolution and related advocacy engagement and strengthening collective and proactive action to resolve conflicts.
Recognizing the role of women in conflict resolution and healing, the review recommitted to strengthening joint action to support women to become champions for peace and agents of trauma healing and resilience in their communities, recognizing and reinforcing SSCC’s work with KAIROS on the Women, Peace and Security program.
The Council is also preparing for the Global Ecumenical Church Leaders visit to South Sudan on July 2-7, 2022. The visit will be comprised of His Holiness Pope Francis, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Jim Wallace, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
