Visit the special page on the South Sudan Tribal Peace Conference
New York, NY – March 22, 2012
Under the sponsorship of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), Bishop Elias Taban of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) proposes a tribal Peace Conference between the Murle, Lou Nuer and Dinka Bor tribes to be held in Yei, South Sudan on April 1-3, 2012.
In the last six months, fighting between these tribes in the state of Jonglei has resulted in the loss of thousands of lives and resulted in thousands of injuries.
Fighting between the Murle and Luo pastoral tribal groups has reportedly escalated since the country gained independence from Sudan in July 2011. Ethnic tensions in the region have flared as tribes fight over grazing lands and water rights, leading to cattle raids and the abduction of women and children, local media report.
"We propose to invite 100 people in total from these three tribes and from Republic of South Sudan governmental officials. We believe this conflict can only be solved by bringing in elders from the grassroots of these tribes," said Deborah Fikes, WEA Representative to the UN.
Even though the capital city of the Republic of South Sudan is Juba, the attendees of the conference will be brought further west to Yei, South Sudan for this peace conference, in order to prevent them from being influenced by people who have other motives in this tribal violence.
Bishop Taban has successfully been able to line up the Southern Sudanese Governor Kual Manyang of Jongolei State to attend the Peace Conference. Governor Manyang will be a key person to involve for follow through and credibility with the tribes.
Those attending will be Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, Secretary General of the WEA, Dr. Brian Stiller, Global Ambassador of the WEA, Stephen Tollestrup, Executive Director of the WEA Peace and Reconciliation Initiative as well as Rev. Aiah Foday-Khabenje, General Secretary of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa.
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Visit the special page on the South Sudan Tribal Peace Conference
The WEA is the largest global evangelical body with a network of churches in 129 nations and an alliance of 100 international organizations representing over 600 million Christians worldwide. It representatively speaks as a trusted voice on behalf of global evangelicalism, connects diverse Evangelical church networks and ministries for effective collaborative action, and actively equips their needs with valuable resources to optimize their impact. For more info e-mail at [email protected] or go to Worldea.org
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