Searching for Peace in South Sudan: Hope Dies Last

Authors: Sabine Kurtenbach, Jan Pospisil, and Anna Reuss

Recognised as an independent state in 2011, South Sudan is the youngest and poorest country in the world. However, violence and armed conflict have continued, demonstrating how local and national conflicts interact. A Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2018 remains fragile.

There is a striking difference between how people conceptualise peace and how they assess a peace process and the performance of peace actors. While the latter is mainly shaped by personal and more immanent impressions of everyday security, the former seems to be more strongly shaped by longer-term collective experiences.

There are wide variations in the actors and institutions that people trust in peacebuilding. While the church, the United Nations peacekeeping mission and civil society organisations enjoy a fair degree of trust in most areas, their acceptance is not universal.