January 16, 2022 (JUBA) – A three-day peace and reconciliation conference ended Thursday in the capital, Juba, with calls for peaceful coexistence among South Sudan’s Mundari community.

Over 300 stakeholders including clerics, traditional leaders, intellectuals, county commissioners, youth leaders graced the conference held under the theme “May they all be one. John 17:21”.

Speaking at the forum, the Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Central Equatoria Province in South Sudan, Paul Yugusuk, urged the Mundari community to live in peace and reconcile.

“Living in harmony with each other is the key to peace and stability. Let us love, reconcile and forgive each other,” he said.

Terekeka County Commissioner James Lino reiterated calls for peace, noting that the conflict has destroyed the Mundari community.

“We should plead for peace. Nobody wants a return to war,” he said.

Lino urged everyone to forgive themselves in the new year, saying that 2022 comes with new changes that everyone should embrace.

“We have to forgive ourselves as a Mundari community,” he stressed.

The three-day conference, organized by the Church Leaders Peace Initiative with the support of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and its partners, aimed to reconcile the Mundari communities in order to enable them to achieve lasting peace between they.

(ST)