Summary

• Although the use of nonviolent collective action in South Sudan is typically overshadowed by violence and armed struggle, there are many historical and contemporary examples of South Sudanese youth, women, religious leaders, and others using protests, vigils, sit-ins, and other nonviolent tactics to advance social, political, and economic change.
• South Sudanese civic leaders and activists view their most urgent priority as restoring peace and stability—through a permanent cease-fire, a revitalized peace agreement, and the restoration of law and order. Better governance and economic opportunities are important longer-term objectives.
• In line with South Sudan’s history of nonviolent action, most activities in pursuit of achieving peace follow methods of protest and persuasion rather than noncooperation or direct intervention—methods that typically require high levels of organization and coordination.
• Civil society and religious groups are taking over roles and responsibilities traditionally carried out by government, such as providing public services and resolving disputes. Many South Sudanese view these activities as a means of nonviolently protesting the state’s failure to serve the basic needs of the country.
• While instances of local self-organizing are helping to fill the void left by the state, they have not yet coalesced into a national movement for better governance. They are, however, fostering trust and cultivating relationships that can be the building blocks for future collective action and national identity.
• The South Sudan Council of Churches’ National Women’s Desk and the youth-led Anataban movement are two prominent movements attempting to connect bottom-up nonviolent collective action to South Sudan’s formal peace processes in order to ensure that they are just and sustainable.
• South Sudanese activists and civic leaders involved in nonviolent collective action face a number of challenges, including repression by security forces, limited knowledge and skills relating to strategic planning for nonviolent action and movement building, and overcoming the economic and social breakdown of the country’s humanitarian crisis.

About the Authors

Moses John co-founded the Organisation for Nonviolence and Development (ONAD), which works with vulnerable people in South Sudan to promote nonviolent approaches and peaceful coexistence through training and advocacy. He is also a part-time lecturer on conflict management at the University of Juba. Philip Wilmot, a nonviolent action trainer, author, and activist based in Uganda, co-founded Solidarity Uganda, an organization dedicated to nonviolent action education. Nicholas Zaremba is a senior program assistant in the Program on Nonviolent Action at USIP.

About the Report

This report focuses on the use of nonviolent collective action by civil society leaders, religious leaders, activists, and other South Sudanese to address the social, political, and economic grievances that have fueled the country’s ongoing civil conflicts. Supported by the Center for Applied Conflict Transformation and the Middle East and Africa Center at USIP and based on extensive interviews, including with the leaders of prominent nonviolent movements, the report focuses on the formidable challenges to building large-scale and sustainable nonviolent civic campaigns in South Sudan.