Peaceful Change

For much of July, I visited Mercy Corps' country programmes in the West Bank and Gaza, Egypt and Libya. On my return, I wanted to share my thoughts on the challenges we face there and also the reasons that I came away hopeful.

At the political level, things are fairly bleak.

Progress toward peace between Israelis and Palestinians is dangerously stalled with warning signs that the worst is yet to come. Mercy Corps' challenge there is to ensure that our work has a high impact in a complex and volatile political landscape.

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Mercy Corps is starting up programmes in the North African country of Tunisia for the first time.

Waving the Tunisian flag during protests earlier this year. Photo: courtesy of gwenflickr, Flickr.com

Tunisia stands at a crossroads following the dramatic events leading to the January 14, 2011, overthrow of President Ben Ali. As the euphoria of the revolution subsides, the country faces important decisions on what comes next. Tunisian citizens want more meaningful engagement in the political processes that govern their lives.

Mercy Corps recognizes how important civil society engagement is to Tunisia's future. Our first programme aims to enhance civic education and the influence of women and youth leadership in citizen organisations. As the country undergoes reform, there will be many new opportunities for women and young people to participate and represent their interests and points of view. Working in close partnership with the Centre of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR) and the Fédération Tunisienne des Clubs UNESCO-ALECSO (FTCUA), the programme will:

• Help 30 national, regional and local organisations to engage women, youth and their communities in civic projects
• Increase the capacity of youth organisations to advocate and network to address key social, political and economic issues
• Develop and increase youth awareness and engagement through the Global Citizen Corps approach, so that 225 young Tunisians can learn the leadership skills and civic knowledge necessary to help shape their new environment

CAWTAR has extensive experience building the capacity of a wide variety of community service organisations, as well as expertise to help address the gender issues that will be a key to success in building a Tunisia-owned civil sector. Likewise, FTCUA also has important expertise and a long history of working with Tunisian youth. They have the capability to deepen youth engagement in the country.

Young people comprise 50 percent Tunisia's population. They represent a particularly important constituency in Tunisia’s transition because of the role they played in the revolution, their rapidly growing numbers and their lack of representation in government. Likewise, women, whose role in civil society was similarly constrained during the Ben Ali regime, will also be important participants in the reform process.

Tunisia’s revolution marked the beginning of this year’s dynamic Arab Spring. We’re confident that, with help from our accomplished local partners, we can help youth, women and other committed Tunisian citizens continue that spirit of change and transform their country for the better.

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A computer, a digital camera and a website are the tools for shedding light on how local political councils in Iraq are serving the needs and interests of their communities and constituencies.

Mercy Corps recently sponsored a two-week training course for local council members in Maysan Governorate on how to create and manage a website. Majed Ahmed from the the Al-Maymouna local council was one of the successful graduates. He said that the people of Maysan Governorate would directly benefit from this course, because it would help local council members like him communicate to communities what their elected officials were doing for them.

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From left, Mercy Corps veteran Middle East staff leader Andy Dwonch, Nir Oren, Mercy Corps Founder Dan O'Neill and Rami Elhanan. Photo: Mercy Corps

A couple of days ago I shared Turkish coffee with two Israeli men who dare to cross traditional barriers in confronting violence and retaliation through dialogue and understanding. The Parents' Circle is an organisation touching thousands of lives for good. "We are all about bringing bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families together for reconciliation and Peace," said Rami Elhanan.

Rami — son-in-law of the legendary Israeli Army General, Matti Peled — lost his 14 year old daughter, Smadar, to a suicide bomber on September 4, 1997. It was a national news event for Israel and a shattering loss to family and friends.

Rami's friend and partner Nir Oren, General Manager of The Parents' Circle, shares a similar tragedy. His 60-year-old mother was killed on a Tel Aviv bus by a suicide bomber 16 years ago.

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Africa Director Matthew Lovick was in Juba for South Sudan's Independence Day on July 9, 2011. Lovick has been working in East Africa with Mercy Corps since November 2005, and he did a short-term consultancy in the region for another organisation earlier that same year.

He had worked previously in Africa in the 1980s; he joined the Peace Corps in Mali and then worked there on development and conservations issues for several years.

Mercy Corps Africa Director Matthew Lovick. Photo: Joy Portella/Mercy Corps

Q: What was the scene on the street on Independence Day?

Matthew Lovick: It was an amazing thing to witness. The Mercy Corps team attended the Independence Day celebration at the mausoleum of Dr. John Garang, a South Sudanese hero. The day included a military parade, singing of the national anthem, remarks by international diplomats like United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, and the very moving raising of the flag of South Sudan for the first time. Even Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir — with whom the South Sudanese have had a sometimes very tense relationship — attended and received cheers from the crowd.

But the most incredible thing was the crowd of South Sudanese — probably more than 100,000 people — who came out to celebrate their independence. People waited for hours, standing in the hot sun, many of them wrapped in South Sudan’s new flag, singing and dancing. The South Sudanese have suffered so much for so long — to say they were jubilant is an understatement.

Q: What does South Sudan’s independence mean to you? Do you personally feel hopeful for the future of the country?

Lovick: This is a hugely significant event. South Sudan is now the world’s 193rd country, and the newest country in Africa. It is the first time since colonialism that Africans have drawn their own borders.

South Sudan will have many hurdles to overcome — especially in the short term — and this will be extremely challenging. In addition to the new country’s many development problems, there are glaring legacy issues such as a lack of clearly demarcated borders, worsening violence in the border areas, no agreement over the North-South division of oil revenues, and the potential for significant inter-ethnic violence, especially in the Abyei area and Unity and Lakes States. In addition, as many 2.5 million Southern Sudanese living in Sudan may flood into the South — by force or by choice — in the coming months.

Q: What are the biggest challenges facing the people of South Sudan?

Lovick: As of its independence on July 9, South Sudan will be one of the poorest countries in the world. Most people live on less than $1 a day, and many are subsistence farmers and traditional herders. Most people in South Sudan have very little access to resources that Americans would consider basics: roads, education and medical care, but also sufficient food, electricity and clean water. Most South Sudanese have had their lives severely disrupted by more than three decades of civil war so they've had to stop and restart their lives — maybe multiple times. Many unlearned — and now must relearn — how to engage in agriculture, commerce and a normal lifestyle.

Q: With all the renewed conflict on the border – at Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile – do you think peace between North and South is really possible? Will South Sudan really be able to move forward, beyond conflict?

Lovick: South Sudan’s ability to move beyond conflict really depends on Sudan’s commitment to building and maintaining peace. Peace is a two-way street and there have been violations of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on both sides, but at times South Sudan’s northern neighbour has disproportionately been the aggressor.

There is also the very real possibility of inter-ethnic conflict within South Sudan. To avoid violence, the South must forge a national identity that is compelling and relevant to its many different ethnic groups. South Sudan will also need to undertake the extremely difficult tasks of integrating various ethnic groups and reconciling their political and economic interests. Current structures tend to favour a small minority of the ethnic groups, and power is based on the legacy of military leadership during the Civil War.

Elections should help resolve these structural issues and allow a more equitable distribution of power, but ultimately top leadership — starting with President Salva Kiir — will have to set an example for the rest of the country.

Q: The establishment of South Sudan will have a significant impact on East Africa’s stability and future. What’s at stake there?

A: The establishment of South Sudan will likely — at least in the short term — heighten regional instability. Anytime you have a very young country that’s highly politically unstable, it destabilizes surrounding countries. South Sudan’s neighbors are all unstable regimes: the Central African Republic, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Instability is exacerbated by an abundance of natural resources such as oil, fertile land and potentially huge reserves of minerals — all of which South Sudan possesses — because internal and external parties will vie to exploit them.

The country’s first months and even years will be a very challenging and sensitive time, but stability can spread as easily as instability. If South Sudan can make meaningful political and economic process, it has the potential to have a stabilizing effect on its neighbors.

Q: Many of our Mercy Corps country programmes have also witnessed moments of political change and a renewal of people's hope in their future. How does that look in South Sudan? What do you think actors like Mercy Corps can do to support people's hope and visions for a better future in a place like South Sudan? What's the best role we can play?

Lovick: Our most meaningful role would be to promote grassroots economic development, build the capacity of civil society and strengthen local government institutions in South Sudan. This is where our work has already focused for the past five years.

In the realm of economic development, we should work to move people from an emergency setting where they’re given food and other basic resources, to a situation where they can grow and sell their own food. This can be done through targeted agricultural programming and the development of market value chains. There’s no reason that the South Sudanese can’t take care of their own internal food needs, and potentially become a net exporter of food. Someone in Juba should not have to buy tomatoes imported from Uganda.

On the civil society and government capacity work, it is imperative that South Sudan build an inclusive political process that takes the concerns of all stakeholders into account. Government should be responsive to the needs of its citizens, and citizens should be informed and able to hold their government accountable.

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Congregants at the All Saints Cathedral were jubilant celebrating the first Sunday after independence.

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Congregants at the All Saints Cathedral were jubilant celebrating the first Sunday after independence. Photo: Joy Portella/Mercy Corps

Last week in South Sudan, I was able to witness the birth of the world’s newest nation. I also got to talk to numerous South Sudanese — many older and far wiser than myself — about excitement and concerns for their country. I’d like to recount a couple of those experiences.

First, I had a remarkable meeting with the Paramount Chief of the Boma district of Juba, South Sudan’s capital city. He is a retired policeman and one of Juba’s 31 “chiefs,” a function that is somewhere between that of a government representative and a traditional elder. The Chief is a tall, gentle, gregarious guy who was elected 17 years ago, and has been working ever since to resolve disputes over everything from cows to water, build schools, promote agriculture and generally help his people make progress.

I asked the Chief what most excites him about independence. He explained that for too long the people of the South were oppressed. They suffered through violence, displacement and slavery, and even something as seemingly simple as moving around a city or outside of one’s village was often impossible because of a complex and oppressive system of checkpoints.

“Ever since I was born, all I’ve known is war," he said. "Now my people have a chance to be happy with peace.”

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A young man looks out over South Sudan's independence celebration.

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A young man looks out over South Sudan's independence celebration. Photo: Joy Portella/Mercy Corps

The road to independence for South Sudan has been long and difficult. The road to the official Independence Day celebration was also pretty tough.

I was eager to attend the independence ceremony. To get a seat I needed to have an invitation from Government of South Sudan — hurdle number one. Through persistent work, we secured several such invites.

Shortly after arriving in Juba, I discovered that invites alone were not sufficient. I also had to get a VIP pass, which required the presentation of a very unofficial-looking scrap of paper with my name and a government ministry stamp — hurdle number two. With scrap of paper in hand, I waited on line for several hours to have my photo taken — hurdle three. Then I received a very official looking VIP guest pass. Mission accomplished.

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In the blur of excitement that is South Sudan’s capital these days, I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of spending my morning at a civil society project — one of the more nebulous concepts in the world of international development. Enhancing my dread was the nature of the project: an empty, unfinished building.

Daniel Oyuru, manager of the Juba Civic Engagement Centre; Moses Opio Korsura, CEO of Soweto; and Mercy Corps' Sebit Emmanuel at the soon-to-open Centre. Photo: Joy Portella/Mercy Corps

I thought: It’s independence. Can’t I go see a parade or something? But not wanting to disappoint our South Sudan team, I trudged along.

I soon found myself at what will be the Juba Civic Engagement Centre with my colleague Sebit Emmanuel, programme officer for a USAID-supported programme called Localizing Institutional Capacity in Sudan, or LINCS. Through LINCS, Mercy Corps has worked with more than 100 citizens groups that constitute what we call “civil society.” These groups tackle a range of issues including education, healthcare and human rights. The Juba Centre is intended to be a resource for them.

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