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PeaceRep's Sudans Programme

research grant applications from postdoctoral researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners working on the drivers of conflict at universities and non-governmental organisations

The Conflict and Civicness Research Group’s South Sudan and Sudan programming draws upon Dr Matthew Benson’s, Raga Makawi’s and Hannah Logan’s extensive in-country networks in both Sudans. In South Sudan, the CCRG frequently collaborates with the Bridge Network of South Sudanese researchers, which is an in-country research network that was co-produced during previous LSE research collaborations in the country. Whereas in Sudan, research draws upon feminist activist networks in the country. The programme is an example of international civil society in action, with research agendas frequently driven by the research questions and demands among on-the-ground actors.

Sudan and South Sudan are undergoing profound economic, social, and political transformation. Sudan is in the wake of a fragile democratic revolution that has partially ousted three-decades of Omar al-Bashir’s authoritarian rule. Deposing al-Bashir was previously unthinkable, yet the seemingly impossible was achieved in April 2019 and momentum has been sustained by a non-violent youth and women-led decentralised protest movement. Sudan’s democratic transition nevertheless remains uncertain. The government has been composed of a polarised coalition between democratic civil society activists and the long-entrenched military junta. Civil society activists call for the complete ouster of the military from government; meanwhile, the military allegedly maintains illicit lucrative business interests that motivates their enduring stronghold within government.

Neighbouring South Sudan’s politics and economics are also defined by state capture by the few at the majority’s expense. Neither decades of civil wars nor the country’s 2011 independence have disrupted extractive governance patterns that can be traced to at least British-led occupation of the country from 1899 to 1956 and subsequent Khartoum-led rule from the 1970s until 2005. Akin to the British-led colonial government and the subsequent Khartoum-led regime that oversaw the territory following decolonisation, the state remains a vehicle for self-enrichment even when led by the rebel movement turned ruling political party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). Everyday South Sudanese, who endure some of the world’s poorest public health and education outcomes consequently experience few benefits from independence and conditions further deteriorated following the resumption of violence in December 2013.

Both Sudans are at critical junctures in which extractive politics can either be subverted or further entrenched by on-going shifts in the national, regional, and international political economy that risk fragmenting both countries. Meanwhile, Sudan’s civic communities powerfully illustrate civic movements’ exceptional centrality to meaningfully resist the coercive politics that define the nature of governance in both Sudans. Likewise, on-going peace processes in both countries provide unique openings for the international community and international civil society to shape each country’s transition from violence towards more inclusive peace agreements that reduce conflicts within each country and the region.