Church urges holdout teams to affix peace efforts – Sudans Post
JUBA – The Episcopal Church of South Sudan on Thursday referred to as on the holdout teams, who’re non-signatories to the September 2018 peace settlement, to affix ongoing peace efforts.
Speaking throughout a one-day workshop held at St. Thomas Munuki Deanery in Juba, Ven. David Batali Oliver, Archdeacon of Munuki Archdeaconry of the Episcopal Church, emphasised the necessity for holdout teams to desert rise up and be part of the peace course of.
“So, regarding the peace process in the country, the church encourages those who are still not part of the peace process so that they also come and engage because it has been proven that you cannot achieve peace without dialogue,” Batali stated, referring to grassroots engagement with group leaders in Juba.
Batali urged the holdout teams to put aside their grievances and embrace peace to revive stability.
“So, those who are still having issues, they need to come so that they also present their grievances so that they agree, they reach a certain level at a certain platform, and people agree,” he stated.
He said that peace ought to start with making peace with God, which then extends to others.
“Peace is not perfect, but you need to accept certain things. Once you agree on certain things, that will make you go ahead, that is peace. But as a church, for us, we believe that for us to be peaceful, we need to first of all make peace with God,” he stated.
Reuben Inaju, the UNMISS Public Information Officer and head of the Community Outreach Unit, expressed confidence that South Sudanese can resolve their grievances independently.
“Those who are still holding out, we are appealing to them to see how they can come together. This country needs peace. And whatever anybody can do, as a South Sudanese, as a non-South Sudanese, to bring peace to South Sudan, we want them to do it,” stated Reuben.
“We are here as a mission to support the government and people of South Sudan to achieve peace. And that is all we are here to do. My message to them is that everybody should join us.”
The one-day workshop was organized by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in collaboration with the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC).
The discussion board introduced collectively 60 group leaders, together with elders, ladies, and youth, to offer them with information of the fundamental obligations of UNMISS within the nation.
The workshop is a part of a collection deliberate by the Outreach Unit of the UNMISS Communication and Public Information Section to boost public consciousness of the UN Mission’s mandate in South Sudan.
