Negotiating the North/South conflict

The document examines the long-term conflict in Sudan, focusing on the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) as a framework for governance and peace. It details the interests of the Government of Sudan (GOS), the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), and international mediators like IGAD. The paper analyzes the CPA's protocols on power-sharing, wealth-sharing, and security, while highlighting the critical role of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) process in post-conflict reconstruction.

• The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed on 9 January 2005 in Naivasha, Kenya, was designed to end the civil war between the Government of Sudan (GOS) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) by providing a model for good governance.
• The conflict was driven by deep-seated divisions: the North generally gravitated toward Islam and Arab identity, while the South had a Christian base and associated with sub-Saharan Africa, leading to tensions over religion, resource control, and political representation.
• The CPA established a power-sharing system featuring a Government of National Unity (GONU) and a largely autonomous Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), with a provision for a referendum after a six-year interim period to decide between unity or secession.
• Wealth sharing under the CPA, specifically regarding oil, was structured to distribute revenue between the National Government (50%), the Government of Southern Sudan (42%), and various producing districts and local groups (2% each).
• The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programme is essential for post-conflict stability, aiming to voluntarily disarm combatants and retrain them with vocational skills to prevent a relapse into war.
• International actors, particularly the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the US, and the UN, influenced the peace process by linking development assistance and oil investment to the achievement of a viable ceasefire.
• The CPA's legitimacy is threatened by the exclusion of other conflict-affected regions, most notably Darfur, which was not a party to the Naivasha negotiations.

APA

Schafer, L. A. (2007). Negotiating the North/South conflict. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper148.pdf

Chicago

Schafer, Leslie Anne. Negotiating the North/South conflict. Institute for Security Studies, 2007. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper148.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Schafer |first1=Leslie Anne |title=Negotiating the North/South conflict |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=July 2007 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper148.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schafer2007negotiating, author = {Schafer, Leslie Anne}, title = {{Negotiating the North/South conflict}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2007}, month = jul, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper148.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }