The symposium commenced with opening remarks by His Excellency Christian Sedat, the German Ambassador to South Sudan, Robert Guya Antipas, Acting Executive Director of SPACE South Sudan, and William Chan Achmil, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Disaster and Humanitarian Affairs of the Republic of South Sudan. They highlighted the impact of the Sudan war on the region and particularly for South Sudan but hailed South Sudan for keeping its borders open and shouldering the responsibility of accommodating a huge number of refugees fleeing the northern neighbour. They noted that this has positioned South Sudan as a focal point of international discussions and the most important player in the Sudan crisis. Ambassador Sedat acknowledged the strain that the war has put unto the economy and resources of South Sudan and pledged Germany’s continued support towards peace efforts in Sudan, but also support for humanitarian causes in South Sudan.
In the first panel, Hon. Mary Ayen Majok, the Deputy Speaker of the Council of States, Dr Okuk James, Lecturer at the University of Juba and Dr Laurence Akola, Director Planning of the Ministry of Disaster and Humanitarian Affairs for the Republic of South Sudan assessed the extent of conflict and humanitarian situations in Sudan. The panel was moderated by Lukas Kupfernagel, Director of KAS Ethiopia/AU Liaison Office. They addressed the background of the conflict, the ongoing peace negotiations, the economic impact of the war and the challenges it bears for migrants and refugees.
The second panel discussed the changing patterns and profiles of refugees in the Horn of Africa, specifically focussing on South Sudan as a source and host of refugees and its implications. For this discussion, Ter Manyang, Executive Director of the Centre for Peace and Advocacy and Chrisopher Oringa, a migrations specialist, constituted the panel which was moderated by Jackeline Nasiwa, Founder and Executive Director of Centre for Inclusive Peace and Justice (CIPJ). They reviewed the challenges that South Sudan and the IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) region face in accommodating refugees, as well as the difficulties encountered by the refugees themselves. Additionally, they explained how integrating refugees could benefit South Sudan and identified areas where the local government should support the refugees.
Following the closing remarks by Susan Natumanya, Project Officer at the KAS RP SIPODI East Africa, guests and participants had the chance to continue discussing during a lunch reception.
About this series
The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, its educational institutions, centres and foreign offices, offer several thousand events on various subjects each year. We provide up to date and exclusive reports on selected conferences, events and symposia at www.kas.de. In addition to a summary of the contents, you can also find additional material such as pictures, speeches, videos or audio clips.