CONFLICT in Sudan and elsewhere, which is often related to belief, demands a joint reconciliation unit within government which underpins relationships with NGOs and faith groups, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.
“How do we wage peace — be those to whom Jesus refers in the Beatitudes as blessed, and known as children of God?” Archbishop Welby asked during a debate in the House of Lords last week about Sudan.
“Sudan is already a human catastrophe on an extraordinary scale. It is using vast quantities of humanitarian aid. . . I already hear anecdotally from within the diocese of Canterbury . . . that those meeting people landing in boats find that a very high proportion are coming from Sudan.”
Introducing the four-and-a-half-hour debate, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) minister Lord Collins described the situation in stark terms. “What began as a power struggle between military factions has escalated into a protracted war and a humanitarian catastrophe. This conflict is not merely a continuation of the country’s troubled history: it is a profound crisis with implications for the entire region.
“Sudan is facing a man-made famine and one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. More than ten million people have been forced to leave their homes, and recent widespread flooding has pushed the country to the brink, devastating an extremely fragile ecosystem. The UN estimates that more than 24 million people — about half the Sudanese population — need humanitarian assistance: sadly, a figure that continues to grow as the conflict drags on.”
The Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Revd Nick Baines, explained how his diocese had “nearly half a century of strong relationships with the Episcopal Church of Sudan, [which] exists not for its own sake but for the sake of the people of Sudan. Despite massive threat and displacement, the bishops and clergy have largely stayed in situ.”
He referred to his visit to Port Sudan with the Bishop of Bradford, Dr Toby Howarth, in June, and to the people they met. “The international community must press hard now for protected access points to be opened across the country in order that millions of lives can be saved and a viable future for the children of Sudan can be opened up. Children must be prioritised if the seeds of the next several generations of violence, power struggles, and poverty are not to be watered so freely in the blood-soaked violence of now.
“The Church of England’s love for our sisters and brothers in Sudan will not diminish. . . For us in the Christian Church, faith is incarnational: fleshed, physical, and material.”
Archbishop Welby considered the “recent creation of the FCDO’s negotiations and peace-process support team [to be] underfunded, understaffed, and held within a limited FCDO remit”, and that “a joint reconciliation unit, staffed by intelligence, conflict analysts, and military, civilian, and trade specialists, complemented by experienced international negotiators, and underpinned by relations with NGOs and faith groups” was needed; “for most of these conflicts are in areas of high levels of belief”.
Lord Collins said that he welcomed the Archbishop’s “ongoing advocacy and tireless efforts”, and that the Government recognised “the important role of local Sudanese faith-based actors”.
Earlier this month, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan released its first report, and referred to “an appalling range of harrowing human-rights violations and international crimes, including many which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity” committed by Sudan’s warring parties.
Mohamed Chande Othman, who chairs the Fact-Finding Mission, said: “The gravity of these findings underscores the urgent and immediate action to protect civilians. It is imperative that an independent and impartial force with a mandate to safeguard civilians be deployed without delay. The protection of the civilian population is paramount, and all parties must comply with their obligations under international law and immediately and unconditionally cease all attacks on the civilian population.”