Wunlit Dinka-Nuer Peace Conference Notes

Dinka-Nuer West Bank
Peace and Reconciliation Conference
Wunlit Dinka-Nuer Covenant

27 February - 8 March 1999
Wunlit, Bahr el Ghazal, Sudan

Dinka and Nuer Chiefs, church, civil and community leaders, elders, women and youth have met in a peace and reconciliation meeting in Wunlit, Bahr el Ghazal, Sudan under the auspices of the New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC). We have established this Covenant of peace and reconciliation and declare an end to seven and a half years of intense conflict.

We the participants hereby make and adopt the following Covenant and pledge ourselves to observe and implement it scrupulously and conscientiously in keeping with the solemn vows of peace, reconciliation and familial co-existence. We initiated our Conference with the sacrifice of the White Bull (Mabior Thon / Tu-bor) and have sealed the Covenant in Christian worship and traditional sacrifice.

We declare the following:

All hostile acts shall cease between Dinka and Nuer whether between their respective military forces or armed civilians. A permanent cease-fire is hereby declared between the Dinka and Nuer people with immediate effect.
Amnesty is hereby declared for all offences against people and property committed prior to 1/1/99 involving Dinka and Nuer on the West Bank of the Nile River.
Freedom of movement is affirmed and inter-communal commerce, trade, development and services are encouraged.
Local cross-border agreements and arrangements are encouraged and shall be respected.
It is hereby declared that border grazing lands and fishing grounds shall be available immediately as shared resources.
Displaced communities are encouraged to return to their original homes and rebuild relationships with their neighbours.
The spirit of peace and reconciliation this Covenant represents must be extended to all of South Sudan.

All Resolutions adopted by the Conference are hereby incorporated into this Covenant.

We appeal to the SPLM/A and the UDSF/SSDF to endorse, embrace and assist in implementation of this Covenant and its Resolutions.

We appeal to the International Community to endorse, embrace and assist in implementation of this Covenant and its Resolutions.

Official version: 10th March 1999

SSFI's mission is to share the love of Jesus Christ with the people of southern Sudan in a way that leads them towards peaceful and self-reliant living from the grassroots level, so that available resources will meet the needs of their communities.