Jon Temin, director of the Sudan and South Sudan programs at USIP, examines “a difficult year” for Sudan and South Sudan, and highlights some of USIP’s work in the region.
December 28, 2012
Jon Temin, director of the Sudan and South Sudan programs at USIP, examines “a difficult year” for Sudan and South Sudan, and highlights some of USIP’s work in the region.
- Conflicts continued: While 2011 saw the long-awaited birth of South Sudan, it failed to fully end the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan, Temin says. “Both countries have seen significant violence in in 2012, especially around their shared border areas, and that remains undefined in many key places.” Conflict also continued in Sudan’s Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states, as well as in Darfur, he notes. While the violence there is at a lower level than a decade ago, it is “still a very miserable situation,” he says.
- USIP’s role: “USIP is deeply committed to peacebuilding in both of these countries,” Temin says. In 2012, USIP supported a new policy institute in South Sudan, the Sudd Institute, and promoted dialogue between police and community members. In Sudan, USIP supported efforts on constitutional development and continued its grantmaking to civil society organizations in both countries. “We have continuous engagement with civil society in both countries, because civil society is going to be the engine for peacebuilding” in Sudan and South Sudan, he says.