Fears that South Sudan could descend into civil war following clashes in Upper Nile State
The EU has offered to act as a mediator to bring about dialogue between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar. A power-sharing agreement between the two which dates from the peace agreement of 2018 has been threatened in recent weeks by clashes between their allied forces in Upper Nile state in the north-Eastern part of South Sudan . A South Sudanese general, a UN employee, Sergii Prykhodko from Ukraine, and a number of soldiers were killed after a United Nations helicopter trying to evacuate them from Nasir in Upper Nile State came under attack on 7th March. The South Sudanese Government blames Machar supporters for the attack, which the UN Mission in South Sudan described as “utterly abhorrent”. Whilst this incident took place hundreds of miles away from Wau, it is a worrying escalation of clashes between rival forces and suggests that there is a danger of South Sudan slipping into a similar state of civil war which has gripped Sudan for the past two years. on 18th March, Nicholas Haysom, Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan, warned, "We need to look no further than across the northern border to Sudan for a stark reminder of how quickly countries can descend into catastrophic war. To avoid this outcome in South Sudan, there must be an immediate return by the parties to consensus-based decision-making." Archbishop Moses Deng Bol, in his capacity as a Peace Envoy representing churches in South Sudan, has been taking part in peace talks which have been going on in Nairobi for months. Please continue to pray for these talks and for Moses as he continues to work for peace and greater trust between different groups. More details may be found here: https://unmiss.unmissions.org/remarks-special-representative-secretary-general-and-head-unmiss-nicholas-haysom-african-union-peace https://www.radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/eu-offers-to-facilitate-dialogue-between-kiir-and-machar https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/08/south-sudan-general-among-dozens-killed-in-attack-on-un-helicopter |
PWP visit to Wau
Six Trustees and committee members of the Poole-Wau Partnership visited Wau from 2nd to 12th February 2025, the first such visit for seven years. The group consisted of our Chair Jeff Neagle, Jan Davies, Rev. Penny Draper, Andrew Holt, Mark Rathbone and Richard Tazewell. The busy programme included a three-day training conference for students and church leaders based on St Luke’s gospel and the opening ceremony of the new Poole-Wau Partnership Building at St John’s College. More details and a gallery of photos are available on the 'Wau Visit' page of this website - just click on this link: https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/wau-visit.html St John's College new building opens The final stage in the construction of the new building at St John's College, painting the roof, was still going on when the PWP group arrived in Wau, but all was ready by Saturday 8th February when the opening ceremony of The Poole-Wau Partnership Building took place. There are more photos of the new building and the opening ceremony on the 'Wau Visit' page of this website - just click on this link: https://www.poolewaupartnership.com/wau-visit.html Conflict in Sudan [Last update: 24/03/25] The recapture of the presidential palace in Khartoum by the Sudanese army on 21st March 2025 is a significant victory for the army over the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the civil war in Sudan which has been raging for almost two years. More on this news here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/21/sudan-army-recaptures-presidential-palace-khartoum-major-battlefield-gain The continuing civil war in Sudan has created what is often labelled the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, yet much of the British media pays little attention to it. That said, two moving articles published in February & March in The Guardian and its sister paper The Observer report on the enormous human cost of the war on Sudanese civilians and the plight of returnees and refugees crossing the border into South Sudan: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/mar/23/atrocities-mount-daily-promised-aid-does-not-arrive-why-has-the-west-turned-its-back-on-sudan https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/feb/17/south-sudanese-border-war-in-sudan-joda-border-crossing These sources, which are frequently updated, have more about the crisis in Sudan and its effects on South Sudan: https://www.theguardian.com/world/sudan https://unmiss.unmissions.org/ https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/World+News/Africa/South+Sudan CLIP brings together different church denominations to promote peace in the Bahr El Ghazal region In this story from the Church Mission Society website, Karobia Njogu of CMS-Africa reports on the marvellous work promoting agreement between different tribal groups by Church Leaders For Peace (CLIP). A five-day conference in Wau earlier in 2024 which led to a peace agreement between the Twik and Ngok peoples is reported on. A long-standing friend of PWP, Bishop Joseph Mamer of Wanyjok Diocese managed to secure helicopter transport to Wau for 15 representatives of each of the two groups from the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei: https://churchmissionsociety.org/stories/the-blood-of-christ-is-thicker-than-tribal-identity/ In its Christmas 2024 issue, The Church Times also publishes a cautiously optimistic assessment of the role of the church in promoting peace and stability in South Sudan: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/20-december/features/features/christmas-in-south-sudan-building-hope-in-a-wounded-country Both these articles are well worth reading.. Thanks to Jan Davies and Rev Chris Strain for spotting them. PWP sends total of £2,350 towards relief for flood victims in Wanyjok & Warrup The short-term appeal in our October 2024 newsletter to PWP supporters for funds to help with relief efforts for victims of serious flooding in Wanyjok Diocese and parts of Warrup state raised more than £1500, enough to send $1000 each to the two affected areas. A further individual donation of £750 in November will be sent to help flood victims in Warrup Town, following a request from William Majok Provincial Secretary, Episcopal Church of South Sudan Northern Bahr el Ghazal Internal Province. PWP’s existing funds are fully committed to paying salaries at St John’s College and completing the new extension there. But we are pleased to be able to send some money towards providing help for flood victims in both Wanyjok and Warrup thanks to the generosity of our supporters in responding to this appeal. We had heard from Bishop Joseph Mamer that serious flooding had hit parts of his diocese of Wanyjok: “The lowlands have been heavily affected including Wanyjok town where our Diocesan office is situated.” News had also reached us from Peter Akook, Director of the Rural Development Committee Initiative, that parts of Warrup State had also been badly affected by the floods, especially Wun-Yiik and Nyieth villages in Akon South Payam. Peter appealed for funds for a project to help some 500 vulnerable households in these villages, whose houses and food stocks as well as growing crops, had been destroyed by the flooding. St John's College plays important role in developing common courses for TEU St John’s College, Wau is taking the lead in the development of common courses in Business Studies across all the colleges affiliated to TEU, The Episcopal University, the recently formed federation of Anglican colleges in South Sudan. Philip Abiel, the Principal of St John’s, took part in a recent meeting in Juba of representatives of all of TEU’s affiliated colleges. TEU is developing common courses shared by each of the colleges in several subjects and St John’s has been developing the course in Business Studies since 2023. Principal Philip has told us that, "The college already did the development of the curriculum of Business since 2023 and the curriculum was submitted to TEU." The college has now been asked to develop additional foundational and university requirement courses in this subject. Philip added: "We have also developed and submitted to TEU a curriculum for primary school teachers to train and upgrade their curriculum level to become competent teachers." It is greatly encouraging that the expertise and good reputation of St John's College in these subject areas is recognised by TEU and that St John's is taking a leading role in developing these courses. Links to find out more about South Sudan News Organisations: Sudan Tribune: https://sudantribune.com Radio Tamazuj: https://radiotamazuj.org/en Eye Radio: https://eyeradio.org Associated Press: https://apnews.com/hub/south-sudan The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/south-sudan BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=South+Sudan Radio Miraya: https://audioboom.com/channel/radiomiraya News Now: https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/World+News/Africa/South+Sudan Regular publications: Diocese of Salisbury Sudans Link, including quarterly Salisbury-Sudans Link Bulletin: https://www.salisbury.anglican.org/mission/the-sudan-link Renewal Magazine: https://anglican.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=bc17f2b699f53a98ce265ecab&id=69d5549620 The Church Association for Sudan and South Sudan, including twice-yearly Sudan Church Review: https://www.casss.org.uk AFRECS (American Friends of the Episcopal Church of the Sudans), including fortnightly E-Blast: https://afrecs.org Church organisations in South Sudan: St John’s College Wau: https://stjohnscollegewau.org South Sudan Council of Churches: https://sscchurches.org The Epicopal Church of South Sudan: https://southsudan.anglican.org ECSS Northern Bahr El Ghazal province: https://www.facebook.com/northerbahrelghazal/ International organisations and charities working in South Sudan: Anglican International Development: www.anglicaninternationaldevelopment.org CRESS UK (Christian Relief and Education for South Sudan): https://cressuk.org/blog/ ECSSSUP (UK-based charity supporting The Episcopal University of South Sudan, of which St John's College Wau is a constituent institution): https://www.ecsssup.org/copy-of-home Health Initiative South Sudan: https://health-initiative-south-sudan.org/homepage TEAR Fund: https://www.tearfund.org/about-us/our-impact/where-we-work/south-sudan UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan): https://unmiss.unmissions.org World Food Programme: https://www.wfp.org/stories/south-sudans-road-out-hunger ECSSSUP: https://www.ecsssup.org/copy-of-home |
