Anglican Mainstream

CPA 5th Anniversary visit, London
8th-13th January 2010

•    Marginalisation is the true cause of conflict in the Sudan – not religion. 
•    It is the marginalisation of peoples in the peripheries – especially the South and Darfur – that led to the civil wars 1955-1972 and 1983-2005
•    The CPA set out a process whereby marginalisation would end and unity would be made attractive.  The failure to fully implement the CPA in since 2005 has resulted in continuing marginalisation and therefore likely division and/or renewed war.
•    Sudan’s history is one of “too many agreements dishonoured” (Hon. Abel Alier) – the CPA and the current agreements on referendum and popular consultation law are simply pieces of paper until they are actually implemented on the ground.  Sudanese politicians have lost the trust of the people regarding the honouring of agreements.
•    The international community must get more involved in the peace process in Sudan – especially those governments that guaranteed the CPA in 2005, such as Britain, Norway and the United States of America.  This includes travelling to Sudan, ground level monitoring of the CPA, meeting with Sudanese politicians to gauge the “honouring of agreements”, and strong diplomatic follow-up to such visits and monitoring.
•    If political tension, tribal violence and insecurity are allowed to escalate further, there is very real danger of more significant violence and even a return to full-scale warfare within the next 12 months.  This will again destroy the lives of the innocent of Sudan and waste the billions of dollars of government, foreign donor and NGO investment that have been poured into Sudan since 2005, such as that given by Her Majesty’s Government.
•    The Church remains committed to the CPA, to the right of every individual Sudanese citizen to basic freedoms and democratic rights, and to working for a positive peaceful future for all Sudan’s people, irrespective of their ethnicity or faith. 
•    The Church supports the recent statement of international NGOs operating in Sudan which highlighted the urgency of international action in Sudan.  The international community has a duty to protect the people of Sudan from continued marginalisation and acts of violence. 
•    The time for talk is over, the time for action is now.

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