Meeting with the Archbishop of Sudan a Great Success

On 11th January the Archbishop of Sudan held a public meeting to discuss the challenges facing Sudan. This came in the wake of an escalation in violence in 2009 and a referendum on the South becoming independent later this year.

The event was a great success and saw a good turnout of MPs and Peers including some new faces to such international development meetings. Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul arrived at the meeting directly from his meeting with the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary at 10 Downing Street.

Through the meeting Archbishop Daniel called on the UK government to take action to prevent the outbreak of civil war in Sudan, which could be imminent. He also urged the UK to lead other nations in this.

In particular he called for

• UK government to make conflict prevention in Sudan a priority foreign policy and development issue

• The international community to appoint a respected elder statesman to lead mediation between parties in Sudan – perhaps an African through the African Union

• Troika (UK, US, Norway) to take a leading role in revitalising negotiations to prevent all-out war in less than a year’s time

The event gave all in attendance much to think about and from his unique vantage point as a leading peace maker, Archbishop Daniel set down an inspiring challenge to act on this important but easily forgotten issue.

Thanks to Melanie Ward from Christian Aid for providing much of this information.