This Week in Peace #142: September 11

This week, in South Sudan, can a new reservoir build peace amid cattle conflict? ‘Quintet’ mediators visit Sudan for peace talks. Ukraine official says recent US peace proposals “more effective.”

In South Sudan, Can a New Reservoir Build Peace Amid Cattle Conflict?

On September 6, UN News reported that the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) had helped to develop an artificial lake in the country’s Terekeka county. The reservoir is in response to competition between farmers and cattle keepers over scarce water and grazing resources. 

New cattle camps have already begun to settle around the reservoir, encouraging those displaced by conflict, including members of the Wonduruba Mundari community, to begin returning home, the report said. 

Meanwhile, the 3,200-square-meter reservoir is far enough from farms to reduce competition, yet close enough for farming communities to benefit.

Cattle keeper John Kenyi expressed how devastating it was to see fighting over scarce resources and lack of coordinated migration patterns, instead of people working together. “I don’t know if I would say that we were brothers, but we are certainly one community,” he said. “It gives us pride that this county is now re-emerging as a place people can call home.”

‘Quintet’ Mediators Visit Sudan for Peace Talks

The Quintet group, which includes the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the League of Arab States, the EU and the UN, visited Khartoum, Sudan, for peace talks on September 8.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the envoys met at the Sudanese Foreign Ministry before engaging with representatives of UN agencies. Dujarric described the visit as a “good offices mission” to hear an assessment by Sudanese stakeholders of the political and security situation in the country, and to share reflections on efforts to advance an inclusive path to peace.

Sudan has been trapped in a civil war since April 2023 between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary force known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, although the exact number remains unknown due to severe communication blackouts and a lack of infrastructure. 

Ukraine Official Says Recent US Peace Proposals “More Effective”

On September 5, a senior Ukrainian presidential official told AFP that US envoys brought new, “more effective” peace proposals for ending the war with Russia. The official said, “It’s not the same as it was before. This one now is more effective. They’re still talking. This is actually the most important part.”

The visit by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Ukraine was the first time they had traveled there since US president Donal Trump returned to office with a pledge to solve the conflict. Kushner said Trump has been following the meetings’ developments “very closely” and is working hard to “find a pathway to end this war.”

Witkoff said, “It’s going to take both sides to make some compromises and narrow the issues between them and we think we have the ingredients to get to that place.” Following two rounds of discussions, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the goal was a “just, fair peace” that would ensure there was “never an opportunity to resume aggression against Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Witkoff and Kushner also held a three-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday in Moscow, where they “discussed substantive plans for next steps, which will be announced in the coming weeks,” according to a White House official.

Keywords: South Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine, Russia, ceasefire, peace deal, peace, conflict, conflict resolution, war, civil war, reservoir, water conflict, cattle