In December 2016, the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), Cape Town, South Africa, hosted about 30 policymakers, academics, and civil society actors to reflect critically upon the challenges of, and prospects for, peacebuilding in South Sudan; and to examine the role of major external actors in supporting local and national peace processes. The seminar had six key objectives: first, to identify the main challenges facing South Sudan’s Transitional Government of National Unity; second, to examine the challenges of, and prospects for, implementing the August 2015 Addis Ababa peace agreement; third, to assess the human rights situation in South Sudan, with a view to identifying more effective ways to protect and promote such rights meaningfully, while addressing their violations; fourth, to explore ways of strengthening local, national, and international engagement with issues related to gender and women’s empowerment as key aspects of conflict management and peace-building; fifth, to understand the challenges facing South Sudanese civil society and to assist the sector in identifying opportunities for peace-building, in the context of the current conflict; and sixth, to assess the role of key external actors in South Sudan such as the United Nations, the United States, and China, with a view to identifying concrete ways in which they can support conflict resolution and peace-building efforts in the country more effectively.
