You are hereGOSS Minister Calls On Southerners To = Peacefully=20 Co-exist
24 September 2010 - (Juba) =E2=80=93 The GOSS Minister for = Humanitarian Affairs and=20 Disaster Management James Kok Ruey, has called on southern Sudanese to = foster=20 peace through dialogue.
James Kok was speaking during a two-day South Sudan Peace Fund review = conference in Juba on Thursday.
The conference was organized by PACT Sudan in partnership with the = GOSS=20 Ministry of Peace and CPA Implementation.
[James Kok]: =E2=80=9CGo tell our people this is a message from our = government; we=20 don=E2=80=99t need more quarrel, we don=E2=80=99t need more theft of = goats and cattle. We need=20 people to be friendlier to one another. Let those who are your neighbors = who=20 have been fearing you believe that you are a brother and you are a = sister to=20 them so that they live in peace. May be before the ninth of July, we = shall have=20 another conference to evaluate how do we pass the ninth of July. Ninth = of July=20 is the end totally of the interim period. If you have marshes or what = you call=20 =E2=80=98toch=E2=80=99, recognize that others have the same interest = over the same grazing land.=20 They need water and they need grazing land for their cattle. Please be = flexible,=20 we need your animal and we need their animals, how do you do it? It is = through=20 the dialogue, through peaceful coexistence.=E2=80=9D
Participants from all ten states in southern Sudan see this review = conference=20 important for their communities. Peter Gai Joak, the commissioner of = Payinjiar=20 county spoke to SRS.
[Peter Gai]: =E2=80=9CI see that has something important for me given = the fact that=20 Payinjiar County is also one of the counties that is being affected by = the=20 conflict, especially the internal conflict like cattle raids and other = problems=20 that need to be solved through peace conferences. At the same time we = also=20 discussed about post referendum. All participants agreed that if we = become=20 independent, we also need internal peace initiatives within southern = Sudan.=20 There is a resource based conflicts and resource based problems always = result=20 into cattle raiding, resulting into internal conflicts.=E2=80=9D
PACT Sudan manages South Sudan Peace Fund and has managed to = successfully=20 facilitate 16 peace related programs in southern Sudan through community = based=20 organizations.