Weekly Roundup for Jan. 26-Feb. 1: A week of hope as peace talks resume in Juba

February 1st, 2008 by peter in: Main Site, Update from HQ

The Good: The January 31st deadline has been extended and peace negotiations in Juba have finally resumed after a six-month hiatus. Moreover, the U.S. has announced its support and sent a representative to assist the peace process.

The Bad: As the negotiations move forward, the parties must not so easily forget that the real "stakeholders" of the Juba talks are the over one million northern Ugandans who remain displaced and struggling to survive.

The Ugly: Violence in neighboring Kenya, long considered a beacon of stability in the Horn of Africa, has taken on new levels of intensity and explicit ethnic dimensions.

The Peace Process:

Peace negotiations in Juba officially resumed on Wednesday with an agreement to extend the cessation of hostilities.

After more threats earlier in the week of military action against the LRA base in Garamba, the Ugandan government said the January 31st deadline would be extended for one month as peace talks proceed.

The presence of new representatives from the U.S. and European Union in Juba to observe and assist the negotiations was hailed as a boost to the process.

With the resumption of talks, chief mediator Dr. Riek Machar said that a peace deal must be signed by March and presented a detailed timetable for the current round of negotiations.

Regional Impacts:

Ethnically-oriented violence has only worsened in Kenya with death tolls reportedly reaching over 850, and thousands more displaced. On Wednesday, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, said that "ethnic cleansing" was occuring. The UN Secretary-General called for urgent action and flew to Kenya on Friday to bring diplomatic weight to ongoing mediation efforts.

Violence in eastern DR Congo raised fears that last week's truce would collapse, but the parties reaffirmed their commitment to a ceasefire.

International Response:

In addition to sending Special Adviser for Conflict Resolution, Tim Shortley, to assist the Juba process, the U.S. State Department issued a statement "welcoming" the resumption of negotiations.

Before this, we co-authored several Op-Ed articles in The Monitor, Reuters and Canada's Globe & Mail, calling for a coordinated diplomatic surge to revive momentum of the peace process. The international community has a crucial role to play in restraining military threats and restoring a sense of irreversibility to the process.

Though we celebrate the increased level of U.S. engagement in the peace process, we know that sustaining it will rely on our continued advocacy and action. It's not too late to sign up for the Lobby Days that are just three weeks away!