WAGING PEACE IN SOUTH SUDAN

For over half a century, South Sudan has been steeped in civil war. The streets are strewn with innocent, unarmed bodies — mostly young lives, snuffed out by the demagoguery and tyranny of a loosely structured, non-constitutional government that is constantly at loggerheads with tribal governance. The present conflict that rages across the land arose out of dissention within the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (“the SPLM”). Former Vice President Riek Machar’s dismissal from President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s cabinet not only generated strife among rival political factions, but a torrent of civil unrest among South Sudan’s various ethnic groups.

The crises that Sudan confronts cannot be resolved on political or ideological grounds. Rather, focus must be placed on the multitude of challenges that directly affect the country’s civilian population. The desire for power and dominance deflects from the real crises that overwhelm the Sudanese people: the need for adequate shelter, food, healthcare, education, security and infrastructure. Without these basic necessities, survival becomes impossible.

Since South Sudan gained independence in 2011, displacement, disease, and extreme hunger have loomed large over the population, threatening the country’s future — a future that rightfully belongs to the young, dying population. The simple question is: “why war?” As corruption and infighting block the fullest extent of humanitarian aid, lives are being destroyed — minds and hearts that, with proper access to education and training, could potentially cure the diseases that are cruelly annihilating them.

The notion of “winning a war” on the African continent — or anywhere else in the world, for that matter — does not exist. Instead, minds must be developed through the building of schools and the employment of educators who understand and are committed to nurturing the minds of the future. The South Sudanese must also have access to adequate telecommunication services and infrastructure that lead to commercial productivity and, ultimately, a marketplace of ideas by peaceful means.

Solutions lie in the building of hospitals to heal the sick and ameliorate the wounds of the suffering, and in finding joy in the eyes of a child who has been properly fed, rather than by peering down the barrel of a gun.

The lure of freedom — the birthright of every individual — beckons African immigrants to risk their lives by traveling to such developed nations as Holland, Great Britain, and the United States, where job creation and productivity are not merely the stuff of dreams. Developed nations adopt a systematic approach which determines a given country’s level of productivity and consequent standing on the world stage.

With the drive for material gain and status within and among western nations comes an abuse of power — the desire for hegemony and dominance over the weaker peripheral countries, causing an imbalance of equities. That is, the prosperity of developed nations is often achieved through the exploitation and draining of underdeveloped countries’ resources.

The extreme disparities in living standards between major world powers and developing countries inexorably lead to a very painful choice: either the weaker nations resort to infighting over the meager resources in their possession, or they pursue the quest for self-determination in more prosperous nations.

The question then becomes: when will underdeveloped nations truly be free and independent? Self-determination derives from life-giving measures, not genocide. The desire for hegemony may be endemic to the human condition, but it is not absolute. Goodwill ambassadors and humanitarians break the cycle — one heartbeat at a time.

Each one of us simply wants the necessities of food, shelter, and security in our daily lives, the chance to be productive, and to contribute meaningfully to the collective. Such needs and wants are not privileges, but basic human rights. War does not confer these rights; peace does. If nations would only dedicate themselves to waging peace, war would be rendered irrelevant. As Mother Teresa (1910-1997) noted, “I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.”

There has to be a paradigm shift among nations, whereby each one, as part of the human family, will dedicate itself to uplifting others. That act of engagement is not called “nation-building,” but collective actualization of human potential, accomplished by giving underprivileged nations a hand up. The creation of hierarchies among nations is illusory and inevitably leads to conflict, and the desire for power breeds discord among brothers.

Marginalization of underdeveloped nations is a cancer that eats away at the whole organism — the world at large. Educating and empowering individuals to learn, work, earn their keep, and become the best of themselves result in the most prosperous nations. Such are the ingredients for waging peace. It is high time, and South Sudan is waiting.