On 30 January, PAX, Pax Christi International member in the Netherlands, and the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) have launched the booklet: “Active Nonviolence in South Sudan – an introduction“. The booklet is designed to empower church leaders in promoting peace.
The initiative follows decades of conflict in South Sudan, including a civil war that erupted after the country’s independence in 2011. Recognizing the urgent need for a new approach, church leaders
convened in Kigali, Rwanda, and pledged to pursue nonviolent conflict resolution. Pax, under the church-led Action Plan for Peace (APP), was then tasked with developing the essential resource. It is the first of its kind in South Sudan and aims to provide practical guidance for fostering reconciliation within communities.
The booklet was launched in the presence of some heads of churches and over hundred youth and women peace and human rights activists and academia. After the launch, the group spent another three days together in an evidence-based advocacy workshop, strategizing on critical issues as the South Sudan peace process, transitional justice, inclusive and people-centered constitution making and free and fair elections.
“We want to break this culture that most people think that South Sudanese are violent communities. This is the beginning that this tool is going to help to break this perception of violence.”
Emmanuel Ira, PAX Country Director
The General Secretary of the South Soudan Council of Churches, Tut Kony Nyang Kon, emphasized that the booklet’s message is for everyone, not just the church leaders.
“All of us are called…to intensify, to call our people not to react, to take the law into their hands.”
Tut Kony Nyang Kon, General Secretary of the South Soudan Council of Churches
Read more:
South Sudan Church leaders naunch nonviolence booklet – Radio Tamazuj
Church launches booklet to promote nonviolent culture in South Sudan – Eye Radio
South Sudan churches unveil guidelines to tackle violence – World Council of Churches
South Sudan’s Churches launch booklet on nonviolence to foster hope – Vatican News
