Civil society groups representing the Twic and Ngok communities have agreed to push for an immediate end to violent hostilities between their communities.
The resolution calling for the cessation of hostilities in Abyei was reached during a four days peace conference held in Wau town, Western Bahr el Ghazal state this week.
The conference sought to push for the cessation of hostilities between the Ngok and the Twic communities fighting for control of a border town between Warrap state and Abyei Administrative Area.
It was attended by representatives of the women groups, religious groups, chiefs, and youths.
Violent hostilities between the two neighboring communities begun in February this year over the ownership of land and a commercial center in Agok/Aneet/Amiet area.
According to the United Nations, over twenty civilians have been killed and thousands of people remain forcibly displaced following destruction of their property and homes.
During the peace conference, the stakeholders settled for a neutral body to facilitate more dialogues to ensure the two communities restore peace and security in the border town.
Doctor Rou Manyiel, the head of the Abyei Civil Society group appreciated the convening of the conference and the participants for attending.
“Congratulation to the Civil Society Organizations of Abyei and Twic for their patriotism and courage in bringing us together to deliberate on our differences and to pave a way for future dialogue between the two communities”
The upcoming peace conferences are expected to be attended by more chiefs, local authorities, youth, women and political leaders from Twic and Ngok communities.
The agenda would be to address the root causes of the conflict between the two communities.
The civil society peace conference was facilitated by the International Organization for Immigration (IOM) and Concordis organizations.
Raid Marrow, IOM Country Director expressed the readiness of the organization to support future peace conference to promote peaceful coexistence among the communities.
“We will commit to support the peace process. Definitely that will start with advocating with donors because without donors contribution we cannot do much. So, will keep on advocating for donors to get resources to support the peace process and as far we have resources, we will commit to continue to support you to reach peace,” he underscored.
In a statement to UN Security Council Briefing on UNISFA for Abyei, the U.S urgently called on the government of Sudan and South Sudan to intensify their efforts to end these violent clashes among local communities.
It also asked the two countries to make progress toward the establishment of the Abyei Joint Police Service, a critical tool in quelling violence in Abyei.
Last week, President Salva Kiir met in Juba with intellectuals from the Abyei and Twic communities to resolve the crisis.