This blog highlights how recurring and recent violence in South Sudan, rooted in unresolved trauma from past conflicts, continues to destabilise the nation and prevent meaningful healing.
While the cycle of pain persists, Adut Alaak Garang argues that true peace must begin with people—through grassroots healing, inclusive storytelling, and collective resilience that embraces unity over division.
Post-Traumatic Growth and Its Inhibition in South Sudan: Unfulfilled Promise Amid...
Recent outbreaks of severe violence in South Sudan, such as the fighting in Nasir County in Upper Nile State, have starkly exposed the mental vulnerability and lingering trauma that communities carry from past conflicts. Grievances on all sides remain unresolved, often resurfacing when new episodes of fighting emerge.
Subsequent political tensions have only worsened the situation. The arrest of senior opposition figures and growing fractures within political groups have renewed fears of instability. For many South Sudanese, the hope for lasting peace feels distant, and the constant question echoes: When will things ever get better?
A Nation Caught in Cycles of Pain
Since gaining independence in 2011, South Sudan has faced a string of devastating conflicts, including the civil wars of 2013 and 2016, and ongoing outbreaks of intercommunal violence. Each wave of violence deepens the trauma experienced by millions, eroding trust, displacing families, and leaving behind emotional scars that can’t be seen, but are nevertheless deeply felt.
In other places where communities have survived war or disaster, recovery has sometimes given birth to resilience—a collective movement toward healing, rebuilding, and redefining what is important to the community. In South Sudan, however, this kind of post-traumatic growth has not taken hold on a broad scale.
Post-traumatic growth is the idea that individuals and communities can find new strength, meaning, and purpose after enduring deep suffering. It offers a hopeful perspective: that adversity, while painful, can lead to transformation. But in South Sudan, a nation forged in the hope of independence and reborn through hardship, the promise of growth remains elusive.
Trauma Has Become the Norm
Why? One reason could be the absence of safe spaces where individuals can process trauma together. Healing does not just happen with time; it requires conversation, storytelling, truth-telling, and the ability to mourn what has been lost. In South Sudan, these opportunities are rare, especially in rural areas or marginalised communities. When trauma is not processed, it can turn inward—or worse, outward—repeating cycles of pain and retaliation.
Across South Sudan, the word “traumatised” has become part of everyday language. It is used to describe not just individuals but the national mood. Some use it to explain why violence flares up over small disputes or why trust between groups is so fragile. This shared trauma touches everyone—civilians, former fighters, and even leaders. But while trauma can explain pain, it cannot excuse harm. Healing is not just a personal journey—it is a national responsibility.
The Role of Culture and Community
South Sudan’s rich cultural diversity and strong sense of identity hold both promise and challenge. On one hand, local customs, communal life, and deep-rooted values can be powerful tools for healing. On the other, pride in identity can sometimes fuel tribalism and division, especially when manipulated by political agendas.
To truly move forward, South Sudan must find a way to embrace its diversity while also forging a shared national story. That story should focus not on what divides people, but on what unites them—the desire for peace, dignity, and a future for the next generation. Post-traumatic growth requires more than individual resilience—it needs a collective shift in how a nation sees itself. This is not something that elites or political leaders can engineer alone. In fact, change may be more powerful when it comes from the ground up.
Community organisations, women’s groups, youth networks, churches, and cooperatives can play a vital role. They can create spaces for dialogue and healing. They can challenge harmful narratives and promote understanding between groups. And they can help South Sudanese reimagine their values—not by erasing identity, but by reshaping it to include peace, empathy, and cooperation.
The Path to Peace Is Through People
If South Sudan is to break free from the cycle of trauma, it must begin by looking inward—toward its people, its stories, and its communities. Healing does not mean forgetting. It means facing the truth, honouring what was lost, and choosing to build something better.
South Sudan still has a chance to write a different future. Not one dictated by past wounds, but one inspired by the possibility of renewal. That future will depend not just on peace agreements or elections, but on the everyday courage of South Sudanese people to see each other not as enemies, but as neighbours. Not as tribes, but as one nation.
The renewed violence in places like Nasir is a reminder that unhealed trauma continues to shape South Sudan’s present. It underscores how easily old wounds can reopen when no real space is given for healing or reconciliation. Even amid these cycles of fear and loss, the idea of post-traumatic growth remains a powerful possibility. It reminds us that the future is not fixed. With intention, care, and the courage to confront the past together, South Sudanese communities can begin to transform their pain into strength. The promise of growth may have been delayed, but it has not been lost.
About the author:
Adut Alaak Garang is a South Sudanese researcher, lawyer and M&E specialist. She has been a consultant with the PeaceRep programme at Coventry University.
References:
Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Theories of posttraumatic growth: Cross-cultural perspectives. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247516539_Theories_of_Posttraumatic_Growth_Cross-Cultural_Perspectives
Roberts, B., Damundu, E. Y., Lomoro, O., & Sondorp, E. (2009). Post-conflict mental health needs: A cross-sectional survey of trauma, depression and associated factors in Juba, Southern Sudan. BMC Psychiatry, 9(7). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-9-7
Direct link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2656503
Vinck, P., Pham, P. N., Bindu, K. K., Bedford, J., & Nilles, E. J. (2017). Trauma and perceived social norms: Predictors of interpersonal reconciliation in post-conflict South Sudan. BMJ Global Health, 2(4), e000377. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000377
Direct link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5510537
Lis-Turlejska, M., Szumiał, S., & Drapała, I. (2022). Predictors of post-traumatic growth: Emotional and cognitive factors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(23), 15942. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315942
Direct link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9807114
American Friends Service Committee. (n.d.). South Sudan: Trauma healing for enhanced peacebuilding. Retrieved 10 April 2025, from: https://afsc.org/programs/south-sudan-trauma-healing-enhanced-peacebuilding